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2009/11/7 The Glory of God - a Bible study series Over the last week we've been looking at the centrality of the glory of God - and we've been tracing through how this gives shape to a whole range of different areas of Christian life. See parts one, two and three of the table.And the importance of the glory of God is one of those things that people will gladly affirm at an intellectual level ("oh yes, of course we should do all things for the glory of God"). Organisations may also affirm this in their vision / mission statements ("this church exists to blah blah blah ... for the glory of God"). However there is a huge difference between such affirmations - and hearts that see, and love, and are jealous for, the glory of God. How do we get people to that point? I think it is by showing people something of the glory of God - and praying that they might see it and love it. It is, in the end, God who reveals his glory to people, shining the knowledge of his glory into our hearts. And they see his glory primarily in the face of Christ. Paul says, For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And so here is a link to a seven-week topical Bible study series I wrote for MSG (My Small Group) over the last few months. What these studies try to do is show something of the importance of God's glory to himself, its centrality to everything God has been doing, and the loveliness and terror of God's glory. These are topical Bible studies, and generally they aim at breadth and depth by firstly doing a quick overview of a range of Bible passages, before drilling down into one passage. Towards the end of each study discussion questions allow people can explore the implications of what they've seen. But most importantly, the studies have a front and a back - the back being a table that builds from week to week, helping the group trace out the implications of the glory of God for the Christian life. There are seven studies:
If I had more time, I would have written more... there are definitely other areas worth exploring. But as they stand, I hope you find these studies as life changing as we found it! [ PS: last day at ND today... ] 2009/11/6 Two visions of the Christian life - part 3 This is part three of a series - see the first two parts here and here.
Some of you might think that 'reformed theology' is as far away from a vibrant spiritual life as you can get. Because for many people 'reformed theology' does conjure up images of serious, unsmiling people with thick books of dusty theology under their arms. It makes us think of tiresome people endlessly discussing about predestination... not very attractive! One of the major ways that reformed theology has been misunderstood is that people think it is primarily about predestination and TULIP. But that's actually wrong: reformed theology has always been about the glory of God first and foremost - and God's sovereignty in salvation was only ever a stepping stone towards the end point - of the glory of God.
In fact I have even come across books about reformed theology written by major scholars where they talk a lot about predestination - but who don't mention the glory of God at all! In contrast, here is what AN Martin writes about Calvinism:
The so-called Five Points of Calvinism are cast in a negative form and can in some ways be misleading. Nonetheless we cannot change the course of history, and so the Five Points have come down to us and we must learn to live with them. Take the last four points - unconditional election, particular redemption, the efficacious call of God and the persevering work of God in all whom he has called and joined to his Son: What is the focal point in all of these? The ultimate focal point, of course, is the display of the glory of God's grace, as we read in Ephesians 1; but as the immediate focal point, how is that glory displayed? By what means? By the taking of totally depraved creatures and making them wholly men and women in whom the very likeness of God's Son can be seen. You might be surprised, but John Calvin himself affirms the centrality of the glory of God in all his thinking and practice:
Assuredly, the thing at which I chiefly aimed, and for which I most diligently laboured, was, that the glory of thy goodness and justice, after dispersing the mists by which it was formerly obscured, might shine forth conspicuous, that the virtue and blessings of thy Christ (all glosses being wiped away) might be fully displayed. For I thought it impious to leave in obscurity things which we were born to ponder and meditate. For all its bad press, reformed theology is actually all about being captivated by the glory of God! And the centrality of this in the life of the Christian is not merely a meaningless theological affirmation - from these tables you can see that it comes out in intensely practical ways.
In contrast, other theologies may promise much and have a strong and exciting focus on being serious about doing God's things - but they draw people's attention away from the glory of God to their obedience - and over time they wear people down. The focus of today's table shifts to theology - and as you read across the rows, you'll probably start to pick up how much of our theology - and even our favourite gospel outlines! are not actually centred on the glory of God... And that's because I think that many people who claim to be reformed, are "but halfly reformed." They may be reformed - but only in their doctrine. In terms of their heart, and their ministry practice, they betray how their Christianity has really centred on humans all along. Oh of course, they are committed to God! But they have not seen, nor are they captivated by, nor are they filled with love and jealousy for ... the glory of God.
For more on reformed theology, read talk #1 from SCCCA's SALT retreat earlier this year!
[ PS: stay tuned: the next post will feature a Bible study series on the Glory of God that you can try out... ] 2009/11/5 Two visions of the Christian life - part 2 Last time we looked at the first part of the table outlining two vastly different visions of the Christian life (see previous post).
For many Christians, the battle they are fighting is between selfishness on the one hand, and Christianity on the other.
And in the face of worldly selfishness that elevates my own desires and my own interests, it's probably natural that Christianity is cast in terms of its antithesis: suppression ofmy own desires, and in its place doing God's things.
 And I think, for some Christians, this is how we end up with a Christianity driven by duty and obedience. Instead of selfishly doing our own thing, we should dutifully submit ourselves to doing the things God wants us to do. Because after all, God is God, right? we should let him call the shots, right?
The problem is that this puts the focus on outward obedience and conformance - and not on the inner affections of the heart. Yes, we may be performing the actions of church attendance and prayer - but our hearts may actually be very far away from God. We may have the outward form of Christianity, and even be 'into ministry'! But the inner reality of what we truly love - and fear - is not centred on the glory of God.
 For those of us from Confucian backgrounds however, there is something else... Our culture also strongly predisposes us towards a Christianity of duty and obedience in a way that is unknown to those from Western cultures. I've written more on that here!
In the Gospels, there was in fact a group of people who excelled at outward obedience. They were faultless in their conformance. However when Jesus came across them, this is what he says to them:
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: Here is more of that table. As before, read down one column, and then the down the other. And as you do so, ask yourself: what is the focus of this vision of the Christian life?
[ PS: stay tuned for more of the table... ] 2009/11/4 Two visions of the Christian life - part 1 I think there is something seriously wrong with a lot of our Christianity. And this is even true of many evangelicals...Over the last short while I've been working on a table and sharing it with some of our leaders at ND, and our Bible study group too. One column is entitled, "Christianity of duty and obedience", while the other is entitled, "Christianity captivated by the glory of God." And what I've done is I've created rows of all different aspects of the Christian life - how we pray, how we think of evangelism, how we conceive of Christian growth - and mapped what it would look like under both of these visions of the Christian life.
While the left-hand column has the form of Christianity, you can probably start to see that the right hand column actually makes absolute sense of that form of Christianity. Under this vision of the Christian life, it makes sense of why Christians are to do the things we do. It gives the practice the meaning and life and colour it was always meant to have!
There are more rows to the table ... stay tuned (but you can read more from talk #2 at SCCCA's SALT retreat earlier this year - download the PDF here).
[ PS: which column represents that kind of reasons you would give for reading the Bible? for prayer? for giving? ] |
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