Dynamic, interactive knowing is at the heart of what it means to live "in" the reality of God's Kingdom. Dallas Willard underscored that fact throughout much of his writing and speaking. It was the "heartbeat" of what he did and how he thought and taught.
Life with God - in and through His Son by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit - is what Dallas called the "with-God" kind of life.
It's at the heart of Jesus' teaching and life, and, indeed, the story of God throughout the scriptures:
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:3)
For more extended unpacking of the "with God" concept, see Dallas' talk on "An Invitation to a 'With God Life'"
Colossians: A "Manifesto" for Cultivating a Mindset for Ultimate Living
Paul writes to Christians living in the pressure-filled environment of Colossae, a major urban, Roman province.
He envisions Colossian Christians for faithful Kingdom life in a society where ‘being Christian’ is marginalized - not culturally ascendent, triumphant, or institutionally plausible - and where religious leaders have become corrupted, untrustworthy, and pushing a variety of false and questionable teachings and practices.
The Christians in Colossae are living in a world marked by “might-makes-right” mindsets. Jesus’ crucifixion put to death that ideology, but we keep trying to resurrect it! What does renewed thinking/living look like?
The world does not need to be ‘Christianized’ in order for the Kingdom of God to be realized as active and influential in a society. Paul’s grid for cultural ‘success’ or ‘influence’ involves the people of God learning to authentically live out the reality of who they are as Resurrection People, compelled and convinced in all dimensions and domains of their existence that they belong to King Jesus. What’s on Paul’s mind? Among other things, how to think about your mindset and practices as a Christian for your context. What does it look like to practice the way of Jesus - to represent the reality of His Kingdom authority and mission - as our social reality, worked out in our body, our personal presence in the world?
Paul is helping the Colossian Christians to see their life at the intersection of "Heaven and Earth," a prominent theme throughout scripture.
Paul envisions the Colossian Christians to reckon with the fact that they have entered a story that is not from around here. He shows that they are part of a new humanity in Christ.
Paul's vision of a 'new humanity' is rooted in the Bible's theme on what it means to image or represent God.
What Do You Do With Jesus? A Meditation for the Biola Lent Project
Ponder Jesus before Pilate in John 18:28-40. Consider the striking artwork by James Tissot (above).
For Biola University's 2023 Lent Project, Veritas Life Center's Joe Gorra invites us to go deeper with how we see Jesus:
Throughout John 18, especially when Jesus is before Pilate, John paints contrasting visions and practices of power, even how to hold power. What do you notice about how divine power is held in the presence of earthly powers? A striking image is on display. Is it analogous to a “lamb being led to the slaughter, a sheep that is silent before its shearers” (Is. 53:7)?
Jesus does not seek to control his circumstances. He stands between a highly accusatory mob that demands his death and Pilate, a “law and order” governor, who is inquisitive of this so-called ‘evil-doer’ and ‘king’
The trajectory of Jesus in John 18 is a rather offensive image to a particular sensibility of a “strong man”; from that framework, Jesus does not appear to be ‘strong’ and ‘in control’. The optics on Jesus look like He’s weak, acquiescing, even passive, not leading with a ‘commanding presence’ but from his vulnerabilities, and certainly not ‘in charge’ as one would expect for a ‘King of the Jews’.
We can emotionally distance ourselves from this "God in the Dock" moment. Mentally, as readers, we can just pass-by this scene of Jesus before Pilate, thinking that this is just "Pilate's problem" or this scene is merely telling on Pilate, or simply making a theological point about Jesus. But what do we miss if that is only our approach to this scene?
Allow yourselves to be taken by the image of Jesus that is before us, which John is seeking to help illuminate:
What king allows himself to be taken and sacrificed? Why follow him? Is this what obedience to God means? How is that freedom? A Nietzschian mind is offended. Paul walks over to the apoplectic ‘wise men’ and posits . . . what if the ‘foolish’, ‘lowly’, and ‘weak’ things are chosen to shame the ‘wise’ and ‘strong’ (1 Cor. 1:26-29)?! What if?
Our ‘offended mind’ often seeks to put on trial that which we regard as ‘offensive’ or ‘foolish’ to our own eyes. We can do it with God and the work of God. We can see our neighbor that way. We can even see ourselves that way. You know what that is like?
In the courtroom of my own making, my mind is the Chief Justice and the Constitution. I bring order, or so I think. My control keeps order, at least the illusion of it. “What is right in my own eyes?” is the center of my deliberations in the courtroom of my own mind. Can mercy even enter? Is there a seat for her in the hallowed halls of my own sense of ‘right(eousness)’?
Enjoy the full-text of Joe’s meditation, including the interactive elements of the Lent Project (visual art, poetry, and music).
What might the Holy Spirit be evoking in your heart and mind as you encounter this devotional? Send us a note. We would love to hear from you.
Enjoy more VLC contributions to Biola’s Lent and Advent Projects, which are part of Biola’s Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts (CCCA).
Veritas Life Center seeks to advance the Christian tradition as a knowledge and wisdom tradition, integral for a life worth living. We seek to help people and institutions step into the story of God’s mission and purposes. Good news for families as much as industries of culture!
Image Source: James Tissot, "Jesus Before Pilate, First Interview" (Brooklynn Museum).
Divine Power in the Presence of Earthly Powers: Meditation on John 18
Good news writer, John, is painting with contrasting colors in John 18. What stands out to you about Jesus’ posture before various powers that seek to seize control of Him? Even as threats surround Him, does He hunker-down into self-protective mode? Is He defensive of His ‘rights’ before Jewish and Roman authorities?
In the presence of (false) accusatory, interrogating claims, Jesus makes himself known but not in the manner of a lawyerly apologia.
Strikingly, the replies of Jesus often lead with questions:
“Whom do you seek?” . . . “I am He” (18:4-8). Notice the public availability of Jesus’ presence in this moment.
“Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said” (18:21). Notice how Jesus is willing to trust the credibility of His words to His witnesses.
“If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” (18:23). Notice Jesus’ openness to, and reliance on, truth.
“Are you saying this, on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” (18:34). Notice how Jesus seeks context, inquiring of Pilate on the sourcing and authority of the title, ‘King of the Jews’.
In John 18, especially when Jesus is before Pilate, John paints contrasting visions and practices of power, even how to hold power. What do you notice about how divine power is held in the presence of earthly powers? A striking image is on display. Is it analogous to a “lamb being led to the slaughter, a sheep that is silent before its shearers” (Is. 53:7)?
Jesus does not seek to control his circumstances. He stands between a highly accusatory mob that demands his death and Pilate, a “law and order” governor, who is inquisitive of this so-called ‘evil-doer’ and ‘king’.
Image Source: James Tissot, "Jesus Before Pilate Second Interview" (commons.wikimedia.org).
Meditating on John the Baptist as Witness (John 1:19-34): Big Takeaways
Notice: In 1:26, the Baptizer declares to the Pharisees that he baptizes with water, “but among you stands one you do not perceive (eido, emphasis mine). But later, the Baptizer confesses two times that he himself did not even perceive or understand (eido) Jesus as the Lamb of God (1:31, 33). In the second confession, the Baptizer tells us that “He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see (eido) the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit” (1:33, NASB, italics mine). Implied in the Baptizer’s testimony is the working role of revelation via a sign (ironically, also a form of witness, often prompting wonder). The Revealer who sent John to do one thing ends up also unveiling (his) eyes to see.
Takeaway #1: ‘Seeing’ and ‘Seeing as’ shape a witness. We pay attention and stay alert to what we see God doing but do not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). We learn to stand under His revealing. Is that not trust? Eyeball sight is not the only way to see. Simple seeing with our eyeballs can only take us so far. If we are to be witnesses of God - witnesses of His action in the world - how can we not make room for faith; a way of grasping what is real on the basis of what is revealed? To put it differently, why rest on the assumption that I alone perceive what God is doing, even what He is doing with me?
Takeaway #2: A witness does not have to have certainty to bear witness to what is real, nor must their knowing be total or complete in order to then speak as a witness. The Holy Spirit invites us to lay down our epistemic burdens (e.g., expecting ‘witness’ to equal, “saying what you alone know or grasp to be the case”).
Takeaway #3: We go with what we have been given. The Baptizer did what he was sent to do. “ . . . for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel” (1:31, italics mine). Gospel writer, John, agrees: “[John] came as a witness, to testify about the Light so that all might believe through him” (1:7, NASB). Along the way, the Revealer reveals more. Could it be that obedience activates a readiness to receive what is to be revealed? That smells like trust at the river Jordan.
Poetry and the visual arts often act in a similar epistemic way as the Baptizer’s witness. They need not ‘speak’ the ‘whole word’ in order to still be a ‘word’ worth hearing and seeing; they need not paint the whole picture in order to still bear witness to something important, nor do they need to be literalistically representational in order to bear witness to something worth beholding. John’s good news story is not some mere archived record but a living, active testimony; a dance responding to the rhythm of God. “This then is the message we have heard of [Jesus], and declare unto you” (1 John 1:5).
The bottom line: ‘Education’ of sight prospers by not leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6); ultimately, learning to live not by eyeball-sight alone. With the Baptizer, we learn to stand under the Spirit’s revealing. Isn’t that an act of trust? Eyeball sight is not the only way to see. Simple seeing with our eyeballs can only take us so far. If we are to be witnesses of God - witnesses of His action in the world - how can we not make room for faith; a way of grasping what is real on the basis of what is revealed? To put it differently, why rest on the assumption that I alone perceive what God is doing, even what He is doing with me?
The Baptizer’s testimony concludes: “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God” (1:34). He sees rightly. If paying attention to John’s witness of the Baptizer’s witness, the testimony invites us to consider if we ourselves are serious about evidencing what we have been given to see? Are we serious about the evidencing of God that we embody? John’s witness paves a way for more witnesses, even for his own students to decide who’s witness will they trust, who will they become as God’s witnesses (1:35-42)?
Witness Surprise: A Meditation on John the Baptist as Witness (John 1:19-34)
The Baptizer’s witness comes with a variety of ironic twists in John’s art of story-telling, just given some of the imagery at play.
‘Baptism’ and ‘water’ often evoke biblical ideas and imagery about renewal and identification. Near the Jordan River, the Baptizer enacts his ministry of baptism. The irony? Have you seen how clean and renewal-like the Jordan river looks to be?! That as a site from which something/someone great will be revealed?! It ain’t Jerusalem, son of Zebedee. Hey sons of thunder, it ain’t some place of mighty-ness and greatness! How are bodies to be made clean? How is renewal of life supposed to be inaugurated from that space?
The waters of irony thicken.
For example, the Baptizer identifies himself as the “voice of one crying in the wilderness” (1:23, quoting Is. 40:3). In the event you were not surprised by the first implied irony, it's as if writer John is coming around for a second whammy. Who expects renewal or a movement of God to spring-up from a barren place like a ‘wilderness’? Can God really enact deliverance among what’s perceived to be ‘God-forsaken’, or a place of neglect? Is there a God-witness in disregarded places? Indeed, it is precisely from the standpoint of that literary imaginary - ‘wilderness’ - that the Lamb of God comes, and is, indeed, heralded.
With a wider lens in view, has not the irony of God-witnesses been going on since Eden?
Isn’t it rather ‘outlandish’ for the Lord God, King of the Universe, to send a human to image Him, to bear witness to His mission on the earth? The Baptizer is a man 'sent from God' (1:6); so was Adam and Eve, the first humans to enact a way of being, becoming, and practicing witness of God.
And then came Noah. And then Abraham and his offspring, a formation of a people inaugurated to declare Yahweh's excellencies among the nations. Ultimately, Messiah Jesus as witness, who Paul - a witness - would declare that [Jesus] is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1:15).
Back to John 1:19-34. Narratively, the Baptizer's coming-to-be - his arriving into the story of God - is punctuated by a preceding exclamation point of Johannine metaphysics: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:5). Just when you might not expect there to be a God-witness on the earth - you think: darkness seen = total darkness everywhere - learn to doubt your doubts, let the surprise of divine economy interrupt your cynicism. Let hope arise, and its enemies (of fear and cataclysmic thinking) be scattered.
Isn’t it like the Lord - who is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Ps. 145:8, NIV) - to put darkness on high alert, as if to say, as dark as the world may seem to you, there is a counter-insurgency afoot; darkness will not have the ‘final word’, it is not the ‘ultimate story’ in the here-and-now.
And isn’t it like the Lord - who is good to all, [who] has compassion on all He has made” (Ps. 145:9, NIV) - to send a ‘John’ (“Yahweh is gracious”) to bear witness to the truly true light that “gives light to everyone” (John 1:8-9) in the very world in which “the Word becomes flesh” (1:14), the world that God so loves (3:16), yet the world that does not know Him intimately (ginosko) even though “the world was made through him” (1:10). Enter: the ministry of bearing witness.
Being a Witness Happens in a Context: Meditating on John the Baptist as Witness (John 1:19-34)
The Baptizer joins a series of ‘sent ones’ who will appear throughout the New Testament as witnesses. Are you ready to hear and receive their message? The catechetical beat goes on; attuned ears to hear are required in order to listen-and-do likewise so that you too can pass on what you have heard and seen. For God is not without a witness. The beat goes on. A heralder has walked into the room. Stop what you are doing and listen-up!
A witness to what is real often stands among a plurality of truth-claims for what is real. The Baptizer’s testimony is no exception. Additionally, Messianic hopes and longings are also in the air. Some might say, at ‘fever pitch’. The ‘sign and wonder’ of the Baptizer’s ministry exists amidst a cacophony of other curiosities from priests, Levites, and Pharisees. But they are not the main story or the main attraction in the economy of God; narratively, they are more like a way of drawing contrast (or, to switch metaphors), useful for accentuating the ‘volume’ of God’s witnesses and what they bear witness to.
The Baptizer has become, you might say, a bit of a ‘sign and wonder’ relative to Jerusalem Jews, who are provoked with “Who are you?” “Why do you baptize?”. Those are some of the loudest questions.
“Who are you?” is probably more like code for, “By whose authority do you do what you do?” Whenever a move of God breaks out, or there is perceived to be a ‘spectacle’ of divine happenings, questions of authority abound, most often from the perceived ‘out-group’. We want answers. We want reasons. We crave to satisfy the urge to figure out and judge what is ‘reasonable’ and to dismiss what is ‘unreasonable’ . . . and more importantly, we may conclude, we strive to be disassociated from that which is deemed ‘unreasonable’.
Messianic hopes and longings are also in the air. Some might say, at ‘fever pitch’. Mis/disinformation swirls. The religious establishment is, understandably, triggered by Messiah claims or allegations about a spokesperson being an ancient prophet (e.g., Elijah) or, eschatologically, ‘the Prophet’.
The Baptizer begins to clear the air of noisy claims and allegations. And gospel writer John wants to show the credibility of the first eyewitness in his narrative. So, the deck begins to be cleared: The Baptizer is not the Messiah, nor is he Elijah or ‘the Prophet’. That’s the gist of the counter-response.
The positive response comes in declarations from John’s testimony, which can be summarized, ironically, in the form of 7 ‘I am’ statements:
(1) I am heralding the coming Messiah, preparing the way, as Isaiah said (1:23);
(2) I am baptizing with water (1:26);
(3) I am not fit to untie the sandals of Him who comes after me (1:27);
(4) I am pointing out the Lamb of God (1:29);
(5) I am seeing the Spirit, like a dove, rest on Jesus; the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (1:32-33);
(6) I am the one who did not recognise Jesus by myself, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me what the sign would be (i.e., the Spirit coming on Jesus) (1:33);
(7) I am declaring publicly that Jesus is the Son of God in light of what I have seen happen (1:34).
Willard: Witnesses Speak from Knowledge of what is real
Dallas Willard, writing in Knowing Christ Today, shows how the practice of bearing witness is intimately derived from knowledge and seeing the act of knowing as a generous gift for others.
1 Peter is written to Christians scattered and disenfranchised from centers of Roman political-cultural-economic-social power.
In the midst of being culturally marginalized - perceived even as ‘strangers’, outcasts, trouble-makers - 1 Peter 'explodes' with an alternative story: it re-envisions the people of God for a life with God that is caught-up with Kingdom purpose, power, and presence.
1 Peter mobilizes Messiah Jesus’ 'exiles' scattered throughout Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11). Even if technically ‘citizens’ of their respective cities, their discipleship to Jesus is alien to the establishment of Imperial Rome as they live among a power- hungry, sexually ravenous culture of suspicion toward anyone whose ‘peoplehood’ is not fundamentally Roman.
Peter Davids summarizes the social-political plight of Christians in 1 Peter:
They may be technically citizens of their various cities, but the way their fellow citizens treat them and the reality of their new life in Christ make them feel like temporary residents, noncitizens ... [as a result of their new life in Christ] First and foremost, they stopped worshipping the various gods of their empire, city, trade guild, or family, and instead worshiped only “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3). This change in behavior meant that they were now viewed as unpatriotic (worship of the genius of the emperor was equivalent to flag worship in modern America), disloyal to their city (since they would not take part in civic ceremonies involving worship), unprofessional in their trade (since guild meetings usually took place in pagan temples), and haters of their families (family gatherings and ceremonies also took place in temples, and household worship was thought to hold the family together). After all, no one was asking these Christians to believe in the gods (many of their neighbors did not really believe in them), but only to offer token worship as a sign of their familial or civic allegiance. People who were so obstinate as to refuse this simple duty surely had to be ‘haters of humankind,’ as many in the Roman Empire considered them.
[Source: Peter Davids, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, vol. 4, Clinton E. Arnold, general editor [Zondervan: 2002], 124, 122-123)].
So, how does pastor and apostle Peter rally the purposes of a people of the Lord, who are civically disestablished? What word of encouragement and exhortation does he give them as they face various hostilities and harassments (1 Peter 2:12, 3:16, 4:16)? His approach is noteworthy and should studied for its wisdom.
The book of Habakkuk embodies a poetry of struggle, grievance, and lament (e.g., how is God good when there is so much horrendous evil in the world?).
For Habakkuk's words and God's response to his words come right in the middle of rampant injustice, violence, and idolatry, and amidst the leadership of God’s people becoming corrupted. And, if that were not enough turmoil, threats from the Chaldeans are on the horizon.
In the midst of complaint toward God, one of God’s responses to Habakkuk is to show that “the righteous will live by their faith” (2:2-5).
Babylon will fall (and all nations like it) because God is the Lord of all nations and, thus, any nation can be used by God (even if they have become more corrupt than God’s people) to accomplish God’s purpose of judgment, shaking His people out of their complacency and self-righteousness. Sobering words.
But the rise-and-fall cycle of ‘Babylons’ throughout history will not be forever. Trials and 'woes' are not the only (nor final) story happening with God's people or the world in which they inhabit.
And that is the hope that is announced in Habakkuk’s prayer/song of chapter 3, indeed, in the form of a hopeful praise. For, ultimately, Habakkuk declares that he will find joy and trust in God’s faithful, covenant promises.
Takeway: Trusting and rejoicing in God is not the result of obtaining our sense of ‘correct conditions’ for trusting and rejoicing. Nor is trusting/rejoicing in God a way of denying or dismissing hardship or trials. God is not taken-back by our lamenting; he’s not having some sort of ‘identity crisis’ because of charges brought against Him. Habakkuk models for us that lamenting is not the only reasonable response to God in the midst of hardship; exulting/rejoicing in God are also part of the spectrum of responses to God, and that is where his book ends. He does not perpetually stay in lament mode.
The Gospel of Mark Activates Kingdom Apprenticeship and Ambassadorship
Our friends at the Bible Project offer a useful overview of the book of Mark:
Big theme in Mark: Jesus - the Suffering Servant and Son of Man - is the epicenter of God’s story and Kingdom at work in the world.
From its approach and themes, how might Mark's narrative have a particular 'catechetical' value?
Consider these reflections by Joe Gorra:
Mark is writing about Jesus in order to activate the imagination and agency of his readers; to compel faithful followership to Jesus and His governance, even in the midst of a culture constructed and curated by Roman empire-building. “What is God doing among us?” is in the atmosphere of Mark’s narration. "How do we participate in what God is doing?" "How does Jesus lead the way?"
Mark’s narrative is designed to form Kingdom ambassadors within Roman society, even to the point of suffering and martyrdom for Jesus.
Mark’s prose is quick and concise. Time is of the essence; the appointed time of God's kingdom is coming near, the revealing of God's good news in Jesus is now for all. Mark heightens our sense of attentiveness and expectancy: Anticipation and realization of Kingdom come!
Mark is in hot pursuit of Jesus' action and the life that His words activate. Mark often narrates multiple scenes in a chapter, using important repetition techniques to grab our attention (consider repeated words/themes; e.g., Jesus’ authority).
Deliverance is a very big deal in Mark’s narrative. Jesus’ liberation ministry is not just ‘freedom from’ but ‘freedom for’: wholeness! Why? Wholeness of bodies and people seems integral to God’s mission.
Mark has a bias toward what is real, and so should Jesus' apprentices and ambassadors. We should reckon with the reality of sin, disease, oppression and the need for forgiveness, healing, and deliverance. In the authority of Jesus, we should reckon with 'the powers' and their spiritual influences on individuals, institutions; at systemic, social, economic, political, and religious levels.
Readers-hearers-doers of Mark's good news about Jesus is an initiation into a life-long kind of 'training' to learn how to participate in the rule of King Jesus in contexts where opposition to the King and His Kingdom are real.
From our friends at The Bible Project, a helpful overview of the biblical and historical context for understanding the “public reading of scripture.”
Reading the Bible out loud is an ancient practice that offers us an example for a different way of engaging the Scriptures.
This practice is designed to train not just the attention of our eyes but also our ears. How might the Holy Spirit seek to disciple both our eyes and our ears?
Additionally, Veritas Life Center’s Joe Gorra offers a reflection on 1 Timothy 4 and how the public reading of scripture is designed to be identity-forming in some particular ways.
What is the value of routinely experiencing a public reading of scripture? It is a way of training and habituating our mind, body, emotions, and affections to focus and attend to how scripture speaks; of letting it address us as its subjects versus it being our subject under our mastery and control.
When scripture is read aloud, it has a way of clearing the air, opening up mental space, inviting us into a different way of imagining reality, even reorienting our mental environment, shaping the tone, texture and authority of a place in which we as subjects hear scripture and experience ‘us’ anew. For it is no longer me and me alone reading/hearing, but my participation in a summoned, called-out ‘we’; a people of God knit in togetherness of hearing, listening and doing, even historically over time.
Private readings of scripture, whether individually or collectively, tend toward an experience of scripture at the level of our interior thoughts, reflections and responses. As such, it is easy to get “stuck in our heads” when experiencing scripture; perhaps prone toward experiencing it as one among many mental exercises, while juggling other mental distractions in the playground of our minds. Private readings of scripture tend toward an eye-fixated attention as we analyze a text, while our ears remain largely disengaged, under-developed and untrained to rightly hear.
The public reading of scripture is part of a broader vision and repertoire of what it means to be apprentices to Jesus and His ways, not just within the ‘public’ of the pastor-congregation relationship but especially among how the people of God engage the wider culture and governing authorities (see 1 Tim. 2:1-6).
The ways, words and works of the Kingdom of God embody a public culture of living with God. Scripture is inherently public; it traffics in rich currencies of knowledge, wisdom, witness and love of what is ultimately real – God, His rule and mission to bless all peoples. Those are all ‘public’ in the sense that they are discoverable and open to being accessed by all without exception. The public reading of scripture is a way of re-enacting these truths over and over again, with echoes of ancient practices in the story of the Kingdom (cf. Ex. 17:14, 24:3; Joshua 8:34-35; 2 Kings 23:1-3; Neh. 8:8), forming all who hear the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!
How we think about "God at Work" shapes our view of God's Mission
In 2010, Mark Greene, of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC), spoke at "Cape Town 2010," the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, which is one of the most prominent international gatherings of missiologists and theologians. Before leading LICC, Mark worked as an advertising executive for a number of years.
In his short (11 minutes) talk in 2010, Mark underscores how too many churches today have a reductionistic view of 'missions'. It comes in the form of a particular 'strategy' that acts on these assumptions.
Strategy #1: To recruit the people of God to use some of their leisure time to join the missionary initiatives of church-paid workers.
Mark explains the deficiency of that strategy and its implications in his talk.
What do you notice about what is problematic about those assumptions, however common they may be?
'Mission' or 'missionary work' is reduced to activities done by paid church staff. But why privilege that role? Why center mission work around them? Why do they somehow embody a representation of Christian leadership in the world?
Non-staff (non-paid) people are expected to come alongside the paid worker's missionary initiatives. But what does that end up signaling? Does that entail valuing the 'sacred' work of staff compared to the 'secular' work of non-staff?
'Leisure time' (aka 'non-paid time') of non-staff should be used to support staff in their ministry. What does this tell us about assumptions about time, and how it is carved-up, as it were, between time used to do 'ministry' vs. time used for 'work'. How does that view of time end up malforming disciples of Jesus? Do they come to expect that God is only with them when doing 'churchy things' and that their own work need not be envisioned as ministry to others?
Mark understands the deficiency of this conventional strategy on 'missions'.
The alternative? A paradigm shift.
Strategy #2: To equip the people of God for fruitful mission in all of their life.
Do you see a difference between Strategy #1 and #2?
Strategy #2 views the people of God in a 'whole life' kind of way vs. seeing them and their time as segmented into 'everyday life' and then their 'ministry' or support of church-paid workers.
#2 assumes God is already at work in the lives of the people of God. It is not something they need to go to 'independent' of their everyday life and world; God's mission to bless all peoples is here, is now, is in the midst of context in which we already dwell.
#2 prioritizes 'equipping' - and, really, empowering! - the people of God for fruitful mission vs. them 'filling' their leisure time (the time when they are not doing their workplace job) with churchy activities that support church paid staff.
Strategy #1 and #2 have different mindsets and difference concepts for what is God's mission, what is church, what does it mean to participate as church in God's work in our world.
In a related video, Mark Greene articulates the significance of 'vocation' when it is not reduced to some privileging of 'sacred' vs. 'secular work'.
Why does John Wesley matter for Thinking Theologically about Entrepreneurship?
In what sense can entrepreneurship be thought of from a theological perspective? One way to do so is to reflect on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinking from the standpoint of various Christian exemplars. For example, one could learn from contemporary entrepreneurs and reflect on what can be discovered from their experience and perspective. One could also consider historical examples, even examples of those who might not necessarily 'fit' the expectation of an entrepreneur relative to 21st century models.
Asbury Theological Seminary's Jay Moon, Banseok Cho, and Nickolas Bettis have written a unique article historical and theological scholarship, titled, "John Wesley, Compassionate Entrepreneur: A Wesleyan View of Business and Entrepreneurship" from Transformation 38:2: 105-123.
Here is a summary of the article:
This article intends to identify and construct a Wesleyan perspective of business and entrepreneurship, drawing on how Wesley viewed and used business and entrepreneurship in relation to poverty in England, in order to identify helpful implications for the church which seeks to engage with poverty-related issues.Wesley did not repudiate or underestimate business and entrepreneurship in believers’ lives; rather, he provided believers with practical guidance and theological foundations for business and entrepreneurship particularly in the context of poverty. We argue that Wesley should be viewed as a compassionateentrepreneur—with the compassion of a liberator and the practice of an entrepreneur, as he encouragedbelievers to actively participate in economic activities, and recognized entrepreneurship as a sustainable andsignificant way to empower the poor. Wesley’s example challenges the church today as his case study servesas a radical and faithful application of biblical economic teachings on business and entrepreneurship
A brief excerpt on Wesley as entrepreneur:
If you would like to learn more about the article and consider its implications, let us know of your interest.
How Jesus Guides Our Thinking about What is (Ultimately) Valuable
How do Jesus' parables - his intentional short stories (e.g., parables sometimes titled, "The Rich Fool" or "The Five Talents") - open up our imagination to a world of value, of what is important? How does Jesus' storytelling help us become present to what can be illuminated from paying attention to our ordinary, everyday life experiences (e.g., how we think about money and its role and value in our life).
Fr. Robert Sirico's latest book, The Economics of the Parables (Regnery, 2022), is an attentive reflection on the economic dimension of many of Jesus' parables.
Sirico writes:
More about the book from the publisher's description
Libraries are filled with books on the parables of Christ, and rightly so. In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “While civilizations have come and gone, these stories continue to teach us anew with their freshness and their humanity.” Two millennia later, the New Testament parables remain ubiquitous, and yet, few have stopped to glean from one of Christ’s most prevalent analogies: money.
In The Economics of the Parables, Rev. Robert Sirico pulls back the veil of modernity to reveal the timeless economic wisdom of the parables. Thirteen central stories—including “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” “The Rich Fool,” “The Five Talents,” and “The Faithful Steward”—serve as his guide, revealing practical lessons in caring for the poor, stewarding wealth, distributing inheritances, navigating income disparities, and resolving family tensions.
As contemporary as any business manual and sure to outlast them, The Economics of the Parables equips any economically informed reader to uncover the enduring financial truths of the parables in a reasonable, sensible, and life-empowering manner.
For Biola University's 2021 Advent Project, Veritas Life Center's Joe Gorra reflects on what Revelation 22:16-17 evokes for him; an ancient-future unveiling of Jesus who comes for the thirsty.
Artist Grace Carol Bomer's themed art, "Come, You Who Are Thirsty," helps open up the imagination for receiving what Jesus has for the thirsty.
Revelation 22:16-17
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
An excerpt from Joe's reflection:
Feast on the potent images of Jesus that are served up by these verses. Even then, and as of now, the brilliance of Jesus’ presence and power comes to you in 2022 as “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
What do those images evoke for you in this season of life? Ponder them. Think about your life in reference to what these images reveal about Jesus. Freely receive Him, freely give Him.
The language of “the Root and the Offspring of David” – in one sense – signals Jesus' authority; indeed, He stands in David’s line of promised, Messianic hope, walking out an anointing to represent and bring about the authority of God’s rule and ways on earth, as it is in heaven. But in another sense Jesus is the ‘Root’, the One from whom (royal) branches spring forth. “I am the Vine, you are the branches” (John 15) is also a connotation dancing around the image of ‘the Root’. Truly, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega on lineages that matter most.
In what sense do you need to freshly recognize Jesus as ‘the Root and the Offspring of David”? Are there areas of your life that have been rootless, in search of a true and living source of life? Is there too much of your life that can be easily accounted for by your own authority rather than the power and authority of God working through your life?
Jesus invites those searching for enduring and durable roots to find their life in Him; an invitation to participate in Jesus’ offspring, a family of God among all nations, people, tribe, and tongue.
Jesus also comes as “the Bright and Morning Star.” Stars and bright lights are powerful images throughout the story of God in scripture. Tracking the pathway of the Anointed One, Matthew announces that Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee in order to complete what was foretold by the prophet Isaiah, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Mt. 4:14-16, NIV).
Do you sense the breaking forth that Jesus brings, like life springing forth from a fertile ground? Among those ‘living in darkness’ or those living in the land defined by the ‘shadow of death’, Jesus as the Light of lights, comes to disrupt darkness, a breaking forth of the dawn, a heralding of a new and better way. Thus, with 2 Peter 1:19, “ . . . we do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
With Jesus, God’s good governance comes even closer, more proximate in the here and now. What does it mean for you to live out your days attuned to the ‘new age’ that Jesus brings and is dawning as the brilliant Bright and Morning Star?
It is easy to become accustomed - as if our ‘second nature’ - to the dictates of “the times we live in,” whether articulated as social-cultural pressure points or the ‘order’ that our households, workplaces, or schooling form us into. Time is an instrument of formation. But who’s time are you destined to live ‘into’ and ‘unto’? By whose ‘lights’ will you see and know? How is Jesus inviting you to live out your everyday existence into and unto His order of life?
Enjoy the full-text of Joe's meditation, including the interactive elements of the Advent Project (visual art, poetry, and music).
What might the Holy Spirit be evoking in your heart and mind as you encounter this devotional? Send us a note. We would love to hear from you.
Enjoy more VLC contributions to Biola’s Lent and Advent Projects, which are part of Biola’s Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts (CCCA).
Veritas Life Center seeks to advance the Christian tradition as a knowledge and wisdom tradition, integral for a life worth living. We seek to help people and institutions step into the story of God’s mission and purposes. Good news for families as much as industries of culture!
Justo Gonzalez on the Moral and Spiritual Clarity of "Epiphany"
Writing on the eve of Epiphany in 2021, the noted Cuban-American historical theologian, Justo L. González, penned a penetrating reflection on the meaning of "Three Kings Day."
