The Church is the Bride of Christ . . . Not Me as an Individual

 The verse I've had quoted to me the most when I express a desire to be married is one that is taken out of context to try to present a solution. 

The challenge is, I'm not looking for the person I'm talk to for a solution to that desire. I'm looking for someone to listen and acknowledge that unfulfilled desire I expressed.

But, more than I wish someone would just listen, I with the context for the Scripture quoted would be paid attention to. We do ourselves a dis-service in our understanding of Scripture when we take verses out of context. We miss the richness of Scripture and what God is actually saying.

The context of a verse is vitally important to understanding it properly. The verses around it, the book of the Bible, and the Bible as a whole play a big part in how we understand a particular verse. We need to look at it all before we quote a verse or part of a verse as an answer to someone.

So, now that that's out of the way, what verse am I talking about?

It's actually just six words out of a verse. Isaiah 54:5 begins this way: "For your Maker is your husband . . ." I can't count the number of times I've had these words said to me, typically prefaced by, "well, you know the Bible says . . ." when I express a desire for a husband. 

Not only do these words ignore or belittle the desire I just expressed, they misappropriate a few words of Scripture.

These words in Isaiah are spoken to the nation of Israel, not to individuals. Isaiah is talking about the hope to come for the nation. These are God's words to the nation He has chosen out of all the nations on earth at the time.

When I've pushed back on the use of these words from Isaiah, I've often received the comment that we are the bride of Christ so it applies today. Except, again Scripture talks about the church as the bride of Christ, not individuals. We get things confused when we try to make things that apply to the church as a whole, apply to the individual.

It doesn't mean there's nothing in Scripture that applies to the individual. But, I think we need to be careful that our individualistic culture doesn't cause us to to misapply what is written in Scipture by assuming it's all about the individual.

So, what do we do with this?

Ultimately, it comes down to listening and being present with people instead of looking for a verse or two to throw at them.

You may not understand the specific unfulfilled desire I'm expressing, but I know that if you're human you have desires and things you're waiting for. In those moments, you can draw on that experience to encourage someone.

But, most of all, don't take Scripture out of context to try to present a solution. That hurts more than you just being there with me.

Singleness: Season? Gift? Or . . . ?

Have you ever told someone or had someone tell you that singleness was a season?

How about a gift?

Likely you were trying to encourage someone, or they were trying to encourage you if you answered yet. It was meant with the best of intentions.

But, what if I told you that neither of those were helpful or encouraging?

In fact, they don't line up with what Scripture says.

Let's start with the idea of telling someone singleness is a season. This actually starts with a massive assumption on our part. It assumes that the person you're talking to will get married one day. For it to be a season, there has to be an end to it at some point.

Joy Beth Smith puts it better than I can in her book Party of One:

"The problem with viewing singleness as a season is that we relegate our time here as something to be endured, not celebrated. . . . Singleness is not a season with a guaranteed end in this life. And we can't spend our days trying to wait it out, constantly looking for what we hope is coming next."

We talk about seasons where we struggle as being hard seasons where we hope the end will come. And, even if we don't like how the season ends, we can count on it having an end. But, that's not always so with singleness. We go through the various seasons of life - both hard and joyful and everything in between - while we are still single. Single isn't a season that lines up with what we're talking about when we say this.

So, if singleness isn't a season, is it a spiritual gift?

Again, this makes an assumption that marriage is the norm and that remaining single requires some sort of special dispensation from God.

Too often I've seen singleness put on a list of spiritual gifts alongside others we would see in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4. But, this doesn't fit. All the gifts in these passages are for the edification and building up of the church, and for reaching out with the message of the gospel. I'm not sure how singleness fits on that list. If we're putting singleness on this list, then we should be putting marriage on the list as well, but that never seems to happen.

This also says nothing of the practical and very struggles for many singles with being single and people calling it a gift.

"Two problems arise if we continue to think about singleness as being a special kind of calling. First, it will make large numbers of single people feel as though life hasn't started yet. They're single but don't perceive themselves as having the gift of singleness. They're in a situation they're not designed for or called to. Life feels as though it is in limbo until God notices he's accidentally 'misfiled' us as being single and fixes things. That's when things will feel like they've finally got going, but until then they're just kicking around.'

Second, it causes undue pressure to get married, especially for those single people not perceived to have that gift. If you're single and don't have the 'gift of singleness,' then you're not pulling your weight. You should be married by now." (Sam Allberry, 7 Myths about Singleness)

By telling someone singleness is a gift, we put people who don't feel like they have the gift of singleness in an awkward place to be.

So, maybe we need to handle singleness like we do marriage. As one of many facts about a person, rather than trying to assign it some sort of special significance.

An Undivided Focus . . . and the Assumption we too Often Make

 How many times have you heard someone say that being single means you don't have to think about a spouse and the impact you have on them as you serve God?

If you're single, probably often.

If you're married, likely still often, just not directed at you. Possibly said by you.

And I'm not going to tell you this is wrong. Scripture says this. 1 Corinthians 7:32-34 says:

"I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs - how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of the world - how he please his wife - and his interests are divided. An unmarried women or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married women is concerned about the affairs of this world - how she can please her husband."

Reading this, it makes a lot of sense.

So, why am I writing about this/ What needs to be said?

I think we need to take a few minutes to talk about the expectations and assumptions that we often from this. I'm not convinced they're helpful or good. In fact, I would say that, at times, they're harmful.

I've had the experience of someone trying to shame me into filling a role I knew I wasn't a good for for, simply because I was single and therefore didn't have anyone at home to consider. And I know it's not just me or something that happens only occasionally; I've talked to many other singles with the same experience. Sometimes overt, and sometimes done very subtly.

I thinks this is a misuse of this passage. If you look at it in the context of all of 1 Corinthians and all of Scripture, you'll also see teaching about serving in the areas God has called you to and gifted you for. So, my saying no to something I know I'm not a good fit for isn't wrong just because I'm single.

There's also the issue of the time and energy I have available. Yes, there's the time that some by nature of being married that people spend on their spouse, that I have available. But, I am also the only one who does all the cleaning, all the laundry, all the grocery shopping, all of everything else for my house. With another person, there is some degree (realizing it's different in all marriages) of splitting of those tasks between two people. As a single person, you're also the only income earner, so when extra expenses come, your only option is to work an extra job or overtime, cutting into time available.

I know I happily do more volunteering at church than some people. I will continue to do so because I can. But, I find it hurtful when people assume I have more time to give or that I should forego my giftings to fill any need at any time just because I'm single.

So, my practical response to this is that we all need to keep watching our assumptions on other people. We likely don't know the whole story. 

Regardless of whether we are married or single, we are to live lives that honour God and to use our gifts to serve God. That is the main point that Paul keeps coming back to in 1 Corinthians 7.

The Most Well-Known Passage on Singleness

 What does the Bible say about singleness?

1 Corinthians 7 is probably the most well-known passage that talks about singleness. It's quoted and used well and it's quoted and used in sometimes hurtful ways.

Unfortunately, I've most often heard it referenced in unhelpful ways. And, if I'm honest, I've used it in unhelpful ways as well. Most of the time when people reference this passage for singles, it's for a couple of reasons. The first is to tell then that the Bible says they should get married if they "burn with passion" (1 Corinthians 7:9). As if it were that simple.

The second, I believe is meant to be encouraging, but it doesn't come across that way. It is often used to tell someone that singleness is a gift from God that gives them an undivided focus on God. Sounds good. True for the most part.

But, when someone isn't single by choice, telling them it's a gift from God and they should embrace it diminishes their struggle and desire for marriage, rather than acknowledging it. The part about having an undivided focus seems to come with an expectation that singles will volunteer wherever there's a need without paying attention to the things God has gifted them for and given them a passion to do. 

So, what does 1 Corinthians 7 actually say?

The first thing is that Paul values both those who are married and those who are single. Over and over in these verses, Paul holds up both marriage and singleness as ways to honour God and encourages living in that way. His primary concern is that those who are married and those who are single live lives that honour God and obey His commands, specifically regarding sexuality.

While Paul talks about wishing that were as he was in verse 7, he is not saying that singleness is the only option. He is acknowledging that there are some challenges that may be removed if one was single. But, this is not an encouragement at the expense of getting married.

Not to address the words of verse 9, which says,

"But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."

When these words are quoted to a single person who is struggling with any kind of sexual desire, they're usually hurtful.

Using these words in this way diminishes a legitimate struggle. Our sexuality and desire are given to us by God and we are to keep them within God's plan for them. But, that's not always easy - especially in our world today.

It should be quite clear from what we see in our world, even in our Christian circles, that marriage is not a cure for any struggle with sexuality and saying within God's original plan for it. So when we tell a single person they should just get married because of this desire or a struggle here, we make their struggle small and unimportant by implying that it has an easy solution.

I don't dismiss Paul's words that when this is an area of strong desire, marriage should be pursued. That's what he writes here and it's true. The problem comes with how we use these words when we're talking to people who are being honest about their struggle in the moment.

I've wrestled with how to finish this post. I never want my writing to just tell us what a standard is or point out where we've gotten off course. That does little to help any of us. But, I haven't been sure how to finish this one.

I guess there's a couple of things that we can go to get this practical. And I think they apply beyond just this post, but definitely here.

The first is to practice really listening and caring about the person in front of you who is sharing with you. When someone who is single is talking about their desire to be married or a struggle to keep their sexuality within God's plan, don't go looking for the first Scripture you can throw at them. Listen. And, yes, this may get uncomfortable at times, but it's necessary.

The second thing is to practice putting aside the assumptions you have as you read Scripture. Do your best to read it for what it is, not what you've always thought it was.

We Need a Good Theology of Singleness

What is your theology of singleness?

Did you even know you had one?

The truth is, we all have one. 

And it's been largely shaped by the teaching on it in the local church you're part of. Or, more likely, by the lack of teaching on it in your local church.

The lack of teaching on singleness causes us a big problem in the church. Single adults for a host of reasons, are a growing segment of society as a whole and of our churches. Yet, we lack of understanding of what the Bible says about singleness, and it says a lot more than we think.

As I've been on the journey of studying and writing about singleness in the church over the last five years or so, I've been saddened by the lack of resources available to help me on this journey. There's an abundance of books, articles, and studies on marriage and raising kinds, from many different perspectives. 

But, for a topic that is relevant to an ever-growing number of people sitting in church pews each week, there is woefully little that is written from an evangelical perspective; it's almost all written by the Catholic church. Most of what has been written, unfortunately, undervalues the single experience and sees it as little more than preparation time for marriage.

The western evangelical church is in desperate need of a better understanding of both the current theology of singleness we preach in our silence and what the Bible actually says.

Before you think I'm crazy or you think I'm talking about something above you, let me explain what a theology of singleness actually is.

Theology isn't something only for pastors and biblical scholars. It is simply "the study of religious faith, practice, and experiences." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Our theology is what we believe about God and what the Bible says.

We all have a theology of many things about our life as Christians. In some areas, this is well-developed and understood. In others, it is not. This is often a place filled with assumptions about Scripture and about experiences.

A good theology of singleness doesn't stand in opposition to a good theology of marriage. A good theology of singleness includes a good understanding of what the Bible says about marriage and values marriage. But, it does so without making marriage the ultimate goal for everyone and the only thing anyone should work towards in life.

In many ways, I understand why the church has had such a focus on marriage and family. We want to be sure that, in a society where marriage is undervalued and attacked, there is a message of hope and God's vision for marriage being declared. We want to support godly marriage and strengthen them. That's a great thing.

But, we need to learn how to do that without pushing singles to the edges of our churches - often only valuing them is they take all the "extra" time we're thought to have and use it to serve the church.

Over the next little while, I'm going to go back to where I started when I first started writing on singleness. I'm going to be exploring again what Scripture says and what we need to do.

Wisdom from Heaven

What does wisdom from heaven look like?

Is it different from the wisdom of the world?

How is it different?


James 3:13-17 says:

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you habour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For when you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

James is contrasting the wisdom of the world with wisdom from heaven. They look different from each other. They're complete opposites.

In verses 14-16, James describes the wisdom of the world. The words he uses to describe it are not at all flattering - earthly, unspiritual, demonic, full of envy and selfish ambition. Really the wisdom of the world is all about what's best for you,about getting ahead.

Contrast that with the wisdom from heaven. James writes that it is pure, peace-loving, submissive, considerate, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. That's what I want. It sound much better than the other.

I think the key difference is that wisdom that comes from heaven is for the good of all. Even if it's hard, it is about relationship and building each other up. Whereas the wisdom of the world is all about me - what works for me, what makes me feel good, no matter the cost to anyone else.

This leaves us with a few questions:

Am I pursuing the wisdom of the world, or the wisdom that comes from heaven?

Is there anything in my life interfering with my desire to pursue wisdom from heaven?

What would my life look like if I was pursuing wisdom from heaven?

Is Singleness a Special Gift God Gives?

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that singleness is a gift or a special calling from God that some people have been given and others haven't. Although they don't say it in the same way, the implication is that marriage is also a special gift God gives to people.

This has always sat awkwardly with me, and it definitely did with someone who I turned it around on and told them that then their marriage was also the same thing. Something has just always felt a bit off in what people mean when they say this.

I can see where people get this from. In 1 Corinthians 7:7 Paul says,

"I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that."

It does appear that Paul is calling singleness a gift here. I won't try to argue that he's not. It is pretty clear.

But, I think we're misunderstanding what Paul means when he uses the word gift here. When we call singleness a gift, we often talk about it as if it's some sort of special calling. We make it out to be something God chooses for certain people and that He will give them some sort of special ability to live it out.

I can't find anything that supports that kind of thinking about it. When we think and talk about it that way, we put it on par with the gifts of the Spirit talked about elsewhere in Scripture (see Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4). There is no indication Paul is saying singleness is a gift like those talked about in these passages. Gifts of the Spirit in the sense that they are talked about in these other passages are about building up the church and reaching out to the world around us with the message of the gospel. They are things like teaching, leading, encouraging, serving, along with many others.

Singleness does not fit in with the rest of these. It is not something specifically for the building up of the church or reaching out to our world, so it doesn't make sense that we would even try to put singleness in that category - yet, I have talked with people who do.

Also, if we're going to try to call singleness a gift of that nature, we should call marriage that too. In this same verse in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul talks about marriage like that too.

So, what does Paul mean in 1 Corinthians 7:7 when he talks about a gift?

I think we have to start with taking a step back and looking at all of what we call gifts in our lives. We talk about many things in life being gifts from God - from things we have to people in our lives. But, we stop short of putting these things on par with the gifts of the Spirit.

I think this is the kind of gift Paul is talking about here. Something God allows in our lives that He then uses as a part of our lives. It's not a special calling that some receive and others don't.

There is also a problem in how it means we make singles in our churches feel when we call singleness some sort of special calling. As I've wrestled with this and continued to look for more resources that talk about this, I've come across another book that talks honestly about the topic. In his book "7 Myths about Singleness" Sam Allbery explains it this way:

"Two problems arise if we continue to think about singleness as being a special kind of calling. First, it will make large numbers of single people feel as though life hasn't started yet. They're single but don't perceive themselves as having the gift of singleness. They're in a situation they're not designed for or called to. Life feels as though it is in limbo until God notices he's accidentally 'misfiled' us as being single and fixes things. That's when things will feel like they've finally got going, but until then they're just kicking about.
Second, it causes undue pressure to get married, especially for those single people not perceived to have that gift. If you're single and don't have the 'gift of singleness', then you're not pulling your weight. You should be married by now." (pg. 44)

I don't think these are the messages we've intended to portray. I believe we've been trying to encourage those who are single when we call it a special calling from God, but we've actually made it worse for them (for me). We make them feel like, if there's still a desire for marriage than something is really wrong with them. Even creating a desperation for marriage that can result in poor choices if we're not careful.

In short, we need to stop making singleness out to be some sort of special calling or gift from God. Just as marriage is something God can use for His purposes, so too is singleness. We need to embrace both as important and as circumstances in life that God can use for His purposes.

What Scripture Says About Singleness: Part Two

In the last post, I started looking at what 1 Corinthians 7 says about singleness. This chapter really is the only place in Scripture where this topic is directly addressed.

1 Corinthians 7:25-40 is the next part of this chapter that talks about singleness. Paul specifically addressed virgins and those unmarried here. For the sake of space, I'm not going to quote the whole passage here, but I encourage you to read it before you read the rest of this post.

The general point of the passage is that while it's not wrong to marry, there advantages to not marrying. The main advantage that Paul talks about is undivided focus a single person can have. While a married person has another person they are thinking about, a single person is free to focus only on the things of God. Paul encourages singleness here, but not because he says marriage is wrong or sinful or something to be avoided.

I think Paul's intent in this passage is to encourage all to put their focus and attention on what God has given them. If one if married, then a certain amount of that attention and focus is on their spouse and on living in their marriage according to God's ways and plans. If one is single, then all of it in on pleasing only God and serving Him with their lives.

One of the common misapplications I've heard and seen, but thankfully never personally experienced, is the assumption that a single person should do anything and everything asked of them by the church. Basically, the idea that they must have more time and energy and should be spending it all on whatever the church decides they should do.

Being single does not mean someone doesn't have preferences and gifts, and doesn't have a right to say no to some things. God gifts all people and gives them different things to do and we need to allow that.

As a single person, I know my ability to serve God and my freedom to do things is very different from what it looks like for my married friends. I'm also very aware that there are some things I shouldn't be doing in the church because God didn't create me to do those things well, even though they would fit in my calendar.

Whether single or married, we need to respect people's decisions about how they use their time to serve God. Being single doesn't mean a person has to do everything. Just as being married doesn't mean there are only certain things a person can do.

As I look at all Paul has to say in 1 Corinthians 7, the conclusion I come to is that Paul valued both singleness and marriage. He saw some very good things that come with being single and he elevated singleness because of that. His teaching here and elsewhere also makes it clear that he didn't see marriage as bad or wrong.

If we're going to elevate singleness in our churches today from the place it has too often been - seen as just a waiting period - to something of value, then it's going to require that we wrestle with some other realities of how we think. I will be exploring these in some of my upcoming posts.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what Scripture says. What do you see in 1 Corinthians 7?

What Scripture Says About Singleness: Part One

What does Scripture say about singleness?

The truth is, it doesn't say much directly. Scripture is definitely  much quieter on this than it is on the topic of marriage. But, that doesn't mean it's something we can ignore in the church today. There are simply too many single adults, whoa re past college-age, in our church to not take time to talk about this.

In my searching of Scripture on this, I found there really was only one passage where singleness is spoken about specifically and directly. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul talks about singleness, alongside marriage.

As I began to look what biblical scholars and teachers had to say on this passage, I very quickly became frustrated. Very few even acknowledged Paul's words about singleness here. And those who did, almost exclusively talked about it as being a temporary thing as one prepared for marriage.

So, what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 7? What can we learn from what he writes?

Verses 7-9 say:

"I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to unmarried and widows I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."

While Paul may have been married at one point, he wasn't when he wrote this letter. In these verses, Paul is encouraging people to remain single. Scholars I read debate the reason why Paul encourages this here. Some saying it was because of persecution the Corinthian Christians were facing; others said it was because Paul was convinced that Jesus' second coming would happen very soon; still others said it was because Paul didn't like marriage.

That last reason seems most unlikely to me given all that Paul says about marriage in the rest of this chapter and in other letters he writes. The other two opinions seem more plausible to use, but I'm not sure we can be completely cure of why Paul wrote what he did.

Whatever he reasons for writing these words, one thing is clear: Paul saw singleness as something valuable and honourable. In saying he wished all could be like he was, Paul is giving singleness a place of importance in God's kingdom alongside marriage.

Even in his acknowledgement that marriage is better than burning with passion, Paul is not making singleness out to just a temporary waiting place in life. He is acknowledging that both are important.

I think we often skip these verses because they're not something we're comfortable with. I know that's been what I've done. The truth is they're not 100% clear. Paul doesn't say this is how you should look at singleness here.

There is still more than 1 Corinthians 7 has to say on this topic, but for the sake of keeping these posts a readable length, that will be the subject of the next post.

Why We Need to Talk More About Singleness in the Church

What does the Bible say about singleness?

How should we engage in discussions about singleness as the church?

Why should we talk about singleness?

These questions and some others have been ones I've been wrestling with for a while. As a single Christian, committed to the church as a whole and to a local gathering of the church, these questions are deeply personal.

As I've wrestled with these questions, they've become a series of blog posts.I don't know how many posts yet, but I've been challenged that we need to be having this conversation in the church more than we are and we need to have it differently than we have in the past. This isn't an easy discussion to have, but it's vital to the church in our rapidly changing culture.

It's no longer the norm in our society to get married, have kids, and stay married. This may have remained the norm in the church for a little longer than society as a whole, but it's no longer the norm in the church either. People are getting married later and more are not getting married at all. This means that single adults are a much larger percentage of our churches than they have been in the past. But, I've found that we do a poor job of addressing that.

As I've wrestled with this topic and dug into it, I've discovered a significant lack of resources on the topic. Standing in my local Christian bookstore, there were two shelves related to marriage, along with over half the books in the section for women also talking about being a wife and/or mother. After some more looking, I found the very small section labelled "singles." It consisted of five books, and all but one of them was about preparing for marriage. As I turned my search elsewhere, I discovered a few more resources, although still a staggeringly few in comparison to what is available on marriage.

While the handful of practical books I found on the topic of singleness were good, they're not likely to be read by someone who isn't single - even though they need to be. I think we need more than practical books, we need to understand what the Bible actually has to say about singleness.

As a single person, I've been taught a theology of marriage to go along with the practical I've heard and seen available. And that's a good thing. Even as a single person, I need that.

But, I wonder how many of us - particularly those who are married - have ever read or heard anything on a theology of singleness? Of what the Bible has to say about it?

As I searched for this, I came across a book that I found helpful and challenging. As with most of what I read, I found I both agreed and disagreed with what the author had to say. Reading the book I found was part of what really drove me to dig deeper and wrestle more with this topic.

The book is called The Significance of Singleness: A Theological Vision for the Future of the Church by Christina S. Hitchcock. As I read, I was driven back to Scripture to wrestle with its truth. I was also challenged to wrestle with my own thoughts and experiences as a single adult in the church.

As I read the introduction to the book, I was struck by some of what Hitchcock had to say on the topic. It seems fitting to share a bit of it here as I introduce these blog posts. Hitchcock is writing from the perspective of the American church, but when it comes to the topic of singleness, almost all of what she had to say fits with my experiences and the experiences of others I've talked to within the Canadian church.

"American Christians adore marriage and are petrified by singleness. Our inability to think of singleness within the context of the entire kingdom of God has not only hurt our ability to live as single people and to live with single people; it has also damaged our ability to speak wisely, humbly, and biblically on subjects such as feminism, homosexuality, extra-marital sex, and even missions and evangelism. When anything take precedence over the kingdom, even God's good gifts, our theology starts to take a nosedive, and we'll see problems popping up all over the place. Singleness is not something to be endured, but neither is it something that is simply of practical usefulness to the church because single people have so much time and energy. The life of Christian singleness can serve as a picture of the gospel and what that means: participating in true community, finding identity in Christ, and receiving authority to act as God's agents in the world."
(Christina S. Hitchcock, The Significance of Singleness, pg. xxii)

Over the next while, many of my posts are going to be wrestling with singleness. Wrestling with what the Bible says about it, what it looks like in the church, what it looks like in life in general. These aren't easy topics and not all of them are comfortable. There are places that really wrestling with this took me that aren't places I've usually written about here, but are an incredibly important part of the conversation.

I don't pretend to be an expert on this. I'm certainly not a biblical scholar. I'm a fellow pilgrim on the journey to become more like Christ and I invite you to wrestle with this with me. I'd love to hear your perspectives, experiences, and understanding of Scripture as I write these posts. Lets start this conversation that we've been missing or avoiding in the church, that we desperately need to have.

What about Social Justice?

Is social justice part of the gospel?

Should the church care about it?

I've watched with interest over the last few weeks that debate that has begun about the role of social justice and the gospel that we, as the church, should be preaching.

The debate began with a statement from some well-known Christian leaders and scholars saying they didn't believe that social justice was a part of the gospel that the church should be proclaiming. Shortly after this statement was published, other Christian leaders and scholars began to talk about how the gospel is incomplete without social justice (here and here).

There are wise and godly men and women on both sides of this debate. People whose thoughts and writing I turn to when I'm wrestling with an issue myself - to help me think it through and form my thoughts based on Scripture. I've spent time reading the arguments on both sides of the debate. And I went back to Scripture to see what it says.

Ultimately, it's God's Word where my understanding needs to come from. As I was studying Scripture on this topic - Jesus' words and actions while He was walking on this planet and at how the early church lived their faith - I came to what seems to me to be the conclusion that makes the most sense to me.

What we often call social justice today is absolutely a vital part of the gospel. If the gospel we're preaching doesn't include this, or even intentionally ignores it, then we're presenting an incomplete gospel to those we're trying to reach.

If this is true, then the church should be at the forefront of these issues in our society.

Not as a political force.

Not in the same way that our world might tell us social justice should look.

But as the hands and feet of Jesus doing the work.

These days the term social justice can divisive. There's more than one definition people throw around for it. I want to be clear on what I'm saying, so before I go any further, I'm going to explain what I mean when I use it.

For the purposes of the rest of this post, social justice is about being involved in caring for, providing dignity, and providing opportunity for those who are commonly seen as less than in our society - whether because of homelessness, addiction, mental health struggles, poverty,r ace, sexuality, or any other way we separate people into groups. It' snot about taking away from one person or group to give it to another. It's about opportunity and removing barriers for people - through education, support, etc. It's about loving and caring for those in our society who need help.

When I look at Jesus' teaching in Scripture, I see a focus on helping the poor and caring for those seen as less than in His day. Jesus treated every person He encountered with dignity and love - whether lepers (Luke 10:11-19), or the woman who was unclean because she had been bleeding for 12 years (Mark 5:25-34), or the Samaritian woman at the well (John 4:1-26).

All of these examples are of people Jesus' society would have said He could ignore and treat poorly, but Jesus didn't do that. He gave them His time, His attention, His healing.

In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks this clearly on this:

"Then the righteous will answer him: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The King will reply: Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:37-40)

I'm not sure where it could be more clear that we need to be involved in these things.

We also see the early church was involved for caring for the poor among them and in their communities. Wee it described in Acts 4:34-35. In Galatians 2:10, we see a conversation between Paul and the apostles that placed and importance on caring for the poor.

Finally in James 1:27 we have the clearest words on this:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Two things listed that God is looking for in us, and the first is about caring for the poor and defenseless in society.

I see no way around it. Social justice is a vital part of the message of the gospel the church is to be proclaiming to a broken and hurting world. We cannot separate the two.

We may all have different ways we're involved in this based on how God has created us. But, we have no excuse not to get involved.

If you're still reading, I realize I probably stepped on your toes a bit with this. I know studying this stepped on my own toes too. But, I think this is too important an issue to just stay quiet on. Sometimes we need to face the uncomfortable truths we say we believe and see if our actions match them. Whether you agree with me or not, we have to wrestle with this and figure out what it looks like for our lives.

The Name of Jesus

In our society today the Name of Jesus has become offensive to many. It's tempting to stop using it and look for less offensive names to use, because we don't want to offend people. But, avoiding the Name of Jesus is dangerous for us as Christians. When we shy away from the very Name that has been our identity for close to 2,000 years, we choose to give up the power and authority we've been given.

Jesus told us to expect this to happen. In John 15:18-25, He tells us that the world will hate us because it hated Him first, and we are claiming His Name as Christians. John 15:21 says, "They will treat you this way because of My Name, for they do not know the One who sent Me." Jesus was preparing His followers for how they would be treated in the days to come.

The early church experienced persecution because of the Name of Jesus. They knew the reality of Jesus' words of warning. The book of Acts records many examples of the persecution they faced because of the Name of Jesus.

But, they also knew that was where all their power and authority came from. They didn't allow the persecution to stop them from calling on the Name of Jesus or acting in the Name of Jesus. Even when it cost them, they continued to claim the Name of Jesus.

Church history is filled with examples of people who continued to claim the Name of Jesus, even at great personal cost. One needs only to read some of the accounts of the martyrs of our faith to see that in action.

So, why are we choosing to stop using the Name of Jesus out of fear of offending people? Why are we shying away from it, when the cost is not yet (for us in the West) as high as it has been for people in our history?

I think for many of us, it's been pretty easy to claim the Name of Jesus in our society, until recently. Whether people agreed with our beliefs or not, they were generally respectful of ours and left us alone. But, that is changing. People now find the Name of Jesus to be offensive and we're not used to that, so we don't know how to respond.

Our response cannot be to stop using the Name of Jesus. Jesus warned us to expect this to come. Even if it becomes costly to claim the Name of Jesus, we must continue to do so, because that is where our power and authority comes from. We call on the Name of Jesus and we do all that we do in the Name of Jesus.

I'm not saying we should go out and look for how we can offend people with the Name of Jesus. That defeats the message of the gospel. But, our love for people and desire for them to understand the truth must be stronger than our fear of offending people with the Name of Jesus.

The Name of Jesus is offensive to some because of the power and authority it has - something they know deep inside because of the image of God in them. The Name of Jesus should never be offensive because of our words or actions.

The good news for us is that we don't have to live this way in our own strength. We have the Holy Spirit in us to help us live this way. The Holy Spirit in us empowers us to live our lives in the Name of Jesus.

Don't Race Ahead

What would it have been like for Jesus' disciples to through the Passover meal, His arrest and crucifixion?

We approach it knowing the end and I wonder if we sometimes miss some of what they must have felt. Some of their confusion and the pain and shock of it all. We miss it because we want to hurry past what's uncomfortable for us.

Looking back, it's easy to see how it all fits together. History allows us to see the whole picture. But, the disciples didn't have that advantage. They had prophecy of the coming Messiah, but they didn't understand how it was all going to work.

Some of Jesus' words would have been shocking to hear in those moments . . .
          . . . one of them would betray Him.
          . . . Peter would deny knowing Him three times.
Yes, we can see that these things did happen.

Some of Jesus' words would have been confusing . . .
          . . . breaking the bread and telling them to eat it because it was His body.
          . . . talking about His blood being poured out for many.
We see the symbolism in this and have Paul's explanations to help us understand.

And what of the pain and sorrow of seeing Jesus beaten and crucified. Their friend. Their teacher. The One for Whom they had given up everything to follow for the last three years.
          Beaten.
               Crucified.
                     Dead.
                          Buried in a borrowed tomb.

But, I also wonder if their excitement at Jesus' resurrection wasn't somehow more because of it all. If their joy wasn't deeper because they experienced the depths of the sorrow and pain they did. If there was something important borne in them out of sitting in that in-between time.

Because we know the end of the story - we know what's coming - I wonder if we too easily race ahead to the resurrection. We want to get to the hope and the joy, so we hurry past Good Friday and the uncomfortableness of it all. But, in doing so, I think we miss out on the depths of the joy of the resurrection.

We call if Good Friday for a reason. Maybe we need to stop and being willing to sit where it's sometimes uncomfortable, because in the middle of that pain and sorrow God was doing the most amazing thing in all of history. And when we really stop to remember the cost, we celebrate the victory of the resurrection in a way we never could have otherwise.

What is the Message we Should be Living?

There is value in returning to the basics of what we say we believe and live. God has been continuing to take me back to that. A few days ago, I wrote about what our lives should be all about – that they should be all about God’s glory and God’s fame. He does His work in our lives to point to Himself, not to make us great. (You can read that post here).

The question I’ve been pondering lately since then is: What is the message I should be sharing with the world around me? And what does it look like to do that?

Whether it’s in the words we say or the things we choose to do or not do, our lives and our words are preaching  message to the world around us. What is that message? The one I’m currently sharing with the world? And does it line up with the one I should be sharing as someone who claims to be a follower of Christ?

Paul talks about the message that we should be sharing many times in his letters to the early church in various cities.

“. . . but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Corinthians 1:23)

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who dies for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-18)

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:7-10)

As I dig into God’s Word to find an answer to my question, it comes back to one thing – the core message is Christ crucified and risen. And through that, forgiveness of sin – God’s grace that allows us to enter His presence.

Whatever I’m doing, whatever I’m saying, it should all be pointing back to the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This doesn’t change just because I’m not someone gifted in evangelism or called to preach from a pulpit. In my ever day life, I should be living and speaking this to the people around me. That is the message that my life should be all about.

Back to the Basics

What is the core of everything our lives should be about as followers of Christ? What should our lives be all about?

I've been pondering this question a lot lately. As a person who loves to wrestle with the lard truths and the passages of Scripture that can sometimes be challenging to understand, it can be easy for me to miss what my life should really be all about. Wrestling these Scriptures out is a good thing - a necessary thing. But it becomes a problem if it's all I do.

Sometimes, I need to, we all need to go back to the basics and remind ourselves of what that is.

In Luke 4, Jesus quoted words from the prophet Isaiah and stated that day they were fulfilled in their hearing (Luke 4:16-21). As I look back in Isaiah to the passage Jesus read, it becomes clear that the basics are all about Jesus.

     "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
          because the Lord has anointed me
          to proclaim good news to the poor.
     He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
          to proclaim freedom for the captives
          and release from darkness for the prisoners,
     to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour
          and the day of vengeance for our God,
     to comfort all who mourn,
          and provide for those who grieve in Zion -
     to bestow on them a crown of beauty
          instead of ashes,
     the oil of joy
          instead of mourning,
     and a garment of praise
          instead of a spirit of despair.
     They will be called oaks of righteousness,
          a planting of the Lord
          for the display of His splendor.
     They will rebuild the ancient ruins
          and restore the places long devastated;
     they will renew ruined cities
          that have been devastated for generations."
                                                                (Isaiah 61:1-4)

Jesus began His ministry by declaring He had come to do exactly these things.

These verses in Isaiah also give us a reason why Jesus came to do these things. Verse 3 tells us that we "will be call oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." It's the last phrase that is important here.

Everything God does in our lives is about His glory and renown. About it making His name great.

When we get back to the basics of what our lives as followers of Christ should be all about, this is what it comes back to. It's all about making God's fame and glory known. Whatever we say and do has to be all about making God known and for His glory. If we start there, then we're starting in the right place.

God's Words Have Power

     As the rain and the snow
          come down from heaven,
     and do not return to it
          without watering the earth
     and making it bud and flourish,
          so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
     so is My word that goes out from my mouth:
          It will not return to Me empty,
     but will accomplish what I desire
          and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
                                                          (Isaiah 55:10-11)


God's words have power.

The Hebrew word that we translate as "word" here is more than just what our Bibles say. It also speaks to words that God may speak to us.

These verses then remind us that God's word - both in Scripture and when He speaks to us through other ways - has power, purpose, and meaning.

When God speaks something, what he intends to happen because of those words will happen. These verse makes that pretty clear.

We can see how God's words had power over and over as we read Scripture. When God spoke and said that something would happen, it did. It starts with the creation account in Genesis where God spoke everything into being.

This means that when God speaks to us regarding something for our lives, what He has determined will happen. We have a choice in whether we cooperate with what God says, but what He says will happen.

A Theology Worth Smuggling

Do you have a theology worth smuggling?

I read a book a few years ago that talked about this. I stumbled across a quote from the book I had written down a couple days ago.

"A theology not worth smuggling is not worth having. . . . A theology worth smuggling serves the church well because it is based on listening to God rather than just talking and writing about God - the kind of reflection that cultivates intimacy with Christ."
(Earl Creps, Offroad Discipline)

The author makes a bold point in declaring that if our theology isn't worth smuggling it's not worth having.

But maybe the place to begin is to define theology. It's one of those words that gets thrown around in Christian circles without being defined. And because it seems like everyone else is using it and knows what it means, no one asks what it means for fear of looking "stupid." We do ourselves a dis-service when we do this.

The way I've always defined theology and the way I'm talking about it in this post is as follows: Theology is the series of beliefs about God, the Bible, and life as a follower of Christ that changes the way a person lives.

We often think of theology as something academic that only biblical scholars study. But actually all of us have a theology and are students of theology if we spend any time studying Scripture and following God. The part we often miss is that our theology should affect the way we live our lives. If it doesn't, something is missing.

So, I ask you again: Do you have a theology worth smuggling?

If you study Christian history , it quickly becomes apparent that many have had such a theology. And there are people today who do as well. People - past and present - who are so completely sold out to what they believe that they will give everything - including their lives - for it. These people are those who are so transformed by what they believe and the way they live their lives so changed that nothing stops them - not even death - from taking their theology to others.

Now, that's not a call all of us have. Some of us are supposed to stay in places where our theology doesn't put us in danger of death. We live our theology is a safe place to do so.

But that doesn't change the fact that if our theology isn't worth smuggling, it's not worth having. For our theology to be worth giving our lives to, it must be something we would still believe and live even if it wasn't safe to do so.

It's something challenging to think about.

Do you have a theology worth smuggling?