5.23.2020 - week 56
on super christian guy
“by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
john 13:35
so i started a cartoon. @superchristianguy is on instagram and you will find him in this space each week. he’s an amalgamation of many people i have known through the years, the typical white reformed over-confident, easy answer, #maga (but pretends to be squirmy about it), theologically arrogant, vaguely misogynistic dude who’s long on opinions and short on empathy. hopefully in a lighthearted way, he will help us continue to understand the relational ramifications of the good news.
many of the notable movements of the last century in the church, the fundamentalists, the evangelicals, the calvary chapels, the emerging, the new reformed have fallen into a wasteland of palm pilots and bill cosby books. they succeeded for a while and in pockets still do, but because they were ultimately revealed to be more about precise veracity in a person’s head than love in a person’s heart, they rode a popularity wave and that was that.
the rest of my life is dedicated to increasing my practice of love and trying to spread it. not the un-nuanced non-intellectual passivity that conflates tolerance with love, but also not the smacking people with a king james bible til they satisfy your desire for penance kind. also not the chronological snobbery, attack those who came before if they don’t perfectly check the boxes of your modern sensibilities kind, but also not the smile and quote a verse rather than enter into someones pain kind.
full of grace, full of truth.
self-emptying, choose the relationship over being right
work and pray and listen
… that kind of love.
and i’m really thankful you are along for the journey … so anyway, super christian guy
KG Korner
(a few wise words from lady kristen macdonald)
It’s been awhile since I read through the book of Job and this time I decided to use a commentary along the way to make sure I was gathering the biblical understanding beyond where my knowledge could take me. These forty-two chapters are rich in lessons especially having to do with suffering. If you haven’t read the book or maybe it’s been awhile, here’s a quick synopsis: there is an upright and blameless man named Job (not sinless) and God allows Satan to take away Job’s children and much of his material blessings through tragedy. Much of the book is dialogue between him and his friends as well as him processing his pain and wondering where God is in the midst of his pain. He felt the struggle of his previous understanding of God before the tragedy and wondered how to reconcile that with his current experience of God feeling so far away. It is only in the last three chapters that we hear from God but that brings beautiful closure that can help anyone who knows the Lord and walks through an unexplainable valley. I thought I would share the lessons that stood out to me, as they could be an encouragement and in some ways a challenge to you as you walk your road or alongside others.
Our presence and our words during difficult times matter in the lives of our friends.
I think so often we can say things that are well-intentioned but they tend to help our own thought process and not the ones we are trying to serve. One commentary suggested that in some of the accounts of his friends, it seemed that they got so concerned about being right and forgot to be concerned about Job. Job 6:14 says, “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” Always remember that kindness in the midst of pain goes a LONG way.
2. In the process it seems like God isn’t working, but He is.
In all of our lives we go through things and we wish that we could just snap our fingers and get out of the valley or pain, but the difficult truth is that the only way through is to walk straight through. In the middle of the valley/pain there are a few times that Job shows some ‘flashes of brilliant faith.’ {I think that happens for us too.} In Job 23:10, he says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” Sometimes it feels as though suffering is a punishment when it is really more of a purification. I liked what Tim Keller said in regard to this verse, “Job is saying he is precious to God. Only valued metal is put through the fire.”
3. Job longed for God’s presence.
Just as our friend’s presence matters during difficult times I think one thing I observed through the whole book was Job’s longing to feel God’s presence. I want to be like that! In Job 42:5, when he’s finally in conversation with God Job says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” The most powerful encounter in the book was with God and his loving, powerful presence.
4. Suffering is inevitable.
Job 5:7 says “but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Suffering doesn’t discriminate to the human race; we all experience it. I loved this quote from Spurgeon on how God through Job’s journey can encourage us. “We are not all like Job, but we all have Job’s God. Though we have neither risen to Job’s wealth, nor will, probably, ever sink to Job’s poverty, yet there is the same God above us if we be high, and the same God with his everlasting arms beneath us if we be brought low; and what the Lord did for Job he will do for us, not precisely in the same form, but in the same spirit, and with like design.”
cup of leadership
christians can’t wait to put their persecution hat on and see themselves as a martyr.
but understand why … we think we are standing for the truth and sacrificing for the savior.
‘this is hard, it’s hot out!’ – youth group kid
hard? go ask corrie ten-boom and nate saint what ‘tough’ is .. do you know how many christians have died for their faith? so no, the heat today during this faux-sacrificial middle school mission trip isn’t suffering. - @superchristianguy
almost everyone who grew up in church has had some version of that conversation. we have been taught that the hall of fame for christians is populated with those who gave their lives for the cause. on my first day of college, our professor had us leave the classroom and go look at a list of those from our school who were missionary martyrs. that girl cassie bernall who was killed at columbine was the patron saint of 90’s christian teenagers. we have been preached at and inspired to be ready for the moment to STAND UP FOR JESUS. this is a good thing.
so those of us (20th/21st century white suburban americans) who have been raised in spiritual privilege often sprint to the opportunity to fashion our circumstances into persecution. just because the government is asking us to do something we don’t want to do or limiting our freedom in a way that’s super frustrating, doesn’t NECESARILLY mean we are walking the via dolorosa. that cheapens the experience of those who have actually given their lives rather than to deny their faith.
just a thought … this is a hard time and we should all be SUPER gracious to each other as we try to sort through the best path forward and comprehend all the different complicated things happening. love you xoxo.
#thisisgoodnews #hatofleadership
book review
a genuinely fascinating insider look at a powerful world figure’s rise to power, hubbard gives balanced insight into a world and country that many of us know is important, but have little understanding of. the book is easy to read, with straightforward prose and just the right amount of 1st person narrative. MBS is likely to be a big player on the world stage for a long time, so understanding his progressive vision and ruthless tactics serves the reader well. highly recommend …
content this week
if you need some encouragement, my wednesday night sermon (along w worship + prayer) are on youtube and podcast. the message was titled, ‘whole heart thankfulness’.
PULL UP CONTEST ?
my buddy
@trainwithquan + i do a fitness contest to illustrate the difference between FULL and HALF heart commitment .. full message coming soon ;)
verse of the week
i give you thanks, o lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods i sing your praise
psalm 138:1
pieces of good news I saw this week
1. this article on the sinister side of high growth tech apps blew my mind .. super interesting.
2. lots of content this week surrounding the passing of ravi zacharias, this one really stuck out to me.