Taste & See the Goodness of King Jesus: A Meditative, Theological Homily for 2024 Delivered on NYE 2023

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” — Psalm 34:8

There are few things greater than walking into our home at dinnertime. The aroma is fresh. Yumminess is in the air. I delight in Paige’s cooking. I delight in fresh food. Whether it’s the stuffed mushrooms at Cadillac Pizza, the Chicken Fried Steak at Harvest McKinney, a hamburger from Kelly Family Farm Stand in Fairview, Pam’s moist brownies, Gina’s flavorfully balanced Chicken Spaghetti, or Paige’s tender slow-cooked chicken, good quality, fresh food is a delight to the soul and even worship-inducing— because it points us to the God who created all of these diverse, rich flavors and textures to be enjoyed by humans.

Smelling and tasting delicious food is balm (medicine) for the body and the soul that breaks down relational barriers, subsides anxieties, and is a bearer of joy embodied. I don’t know if you have ever experienced food in this way. If you have only eaten out of necessity and pragmatism…If you have never experimented and lingered in the preparation and/or the eating of your food, take a moment to linger with the smells and the everchanging taste profiles. If you linger with deep fried fast food, there’s a good chance your experience will be just want it is— blah.

Take coffee for example. (And before I start…I am an equal opportunity drinker. I drink our church’s Folger coffee every Sunday. I drink TXB’s coffee when I see Dave and his early morning buddies, but…) Coffee exemplifies this point immensely. My experience with Folgers or Community or Maxwell House or Starbucks is categorically different than my experience with Sey, Nomad, Manhattan, and La Cabra coffee roasters. I am not contesting that your favorite roaster’s blend isn’t your best preference of coffee. What I am contesting is that what you drink (experience) between let’s say Folgers and Black & White Coffee is categorically different. The complexity of Black & White’s coffee produced by Brayan Alvear has tasting notes of strawberry, milk chocolate, and peach. Folger’s tasting notes? Bold and bitter. (Kidding…kind of.) The complexity of the cup changes for a host of reasons: market distribution, bean origin, roasting time, grind setting, processing method, and so on. When I drink a delightful cup of coffee, I am anticipating encountering the thing itself: coffee for what it is, what it can be, coffee in its unique form. I delight in lingering with a delicious cup of coffee with friends and strangers alike, enjoying the company and the cup, because as we linger with the delight of the cup we linger to the Creator of the Cup and testimonies of his goodness.

When we are honest with ourselves, we all desire to encounter, linger with, and experience those things which bring delight. Yet so many of us treat God like a fast-food run through Chick-fil-A. We neither linger with him, encounter him, or experience the delight he is. Yet it is with him the psalmist says blessed are we when we dwell and take refuge. Tasting the goodness of the Lord is a generous gift from above that many of us take for granted. Yet we wonder why our lives are stale and tasteless. We wonder why churches are in decline. We wonder why all of our good deeds aren’t adding up to more people at church or why our marriages and family feel lifeless and unenriched. All the while, we’re missing the delightful aroma of Christ, missing ongoing encounter with the Spirit of the Slain-Yet-Risen Lamb, the Spirit of Christ. We, yes us believers in Christ, neglect to eat at the table of God, exchanging our seat at Jesus’ table to eat at the table of religious pragmatism and legalism in the so-called name of Christ, declining an ongoing encounter (relationship) with the Father, Son, and Spirit. We neglect to eat at the tables of God, exchanging our seat at Jesus’ table to eat at the table of our passions of the flesh (innate, instinctive reactions inconsiderate of the good news of Jesus) and faithless logic (that God will not intervene).

Whether Christ follower or non-follower of Jesus, the mandate is the same: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good and that the Lord is Christ Jesus (Psalm 34:8; c.f. 1 Peter 2:3). Our encounters with the Living God himself is an aroma of delight, transformation, and provision. Yet so hastily abandoned for the convenient and the immediate. How have you recently encountered the Spirit of the Living God? When is the last time you have in all humility and hunger eaten at his table? How have you tasted and seen the Lord’s goodness momentarily? When is the last time you shared your taste of the Lord’s goodness to believers near and unbelievers far off?

We share what we have tasted and encountered. I know nothing of three-star Michelin chef Alexandre Couillon’s La Marine in Paris, France. I cannot speak of his daily trips to the fish market and his fresh vegetables from his garden. I cannot testify to the beauty or the goodness of his food. I can attest to the deliciousness of— as I have already mentioned— Pam’s moist brownies or Gina’s son’s mango habanero hot sauce.

In this psalm of thanksgiving, King David testifies to what he encounters: the goodness and nearness of the Lord amid his difficulty. He says to the hearer, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34 addresses the nearness of YHWH to those who fear the Lord, challenging our notions of how and when we encounter the Lord. King David invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good.

In the modern world, we are indoctrinated by a materialistic worldview. In other words, there is no supernatural world. The world is a closed continuum, as Rudolph Bultmann would argue in the mid-twentieth century. The physical world is all we have, some would assert. Or as Fredrick Nietzsche declared, “God is dead”, critiquing the erosion of religious belief in the Enlightenment (aka the Age of Reason), a period of Western cultural history whereby senses of evidence, separation of church and state, and natural law are prioritized, heavily influencing the modern (and postmodern) world in which we live.

This materialistic worldview influences the way we relate to the world around us: technology, medicine, consumerism, industrialism. It influences the way we relate to one another and the ways in which we relate to the Triune God.

In some moments, you and I believe and act as functional deists. A functional deist believes in a far off god who does not act within human history or in contemporary time and space. In other words, we believe “in God” but do not *actually* act as though we will *encounter God* in the here and now. We believe that God created the world, but we do not live as though he is near and present in the world. We believe that God *can* be a benevolent god, but do not live expecting or anticipating his benevolence. We pray, but without expectation that he *actually* will act in our midst. We are functional deists because we assent to a creating deity who we assert to be the Christian god, yet do not expect the Spirit of Christ to encounter us momentarily in time and space.

Can you imagine how imminence (nearness) changes the way we live— the way we walk in the fear of the Lord?

What I want to continue to draw your attention to and to what I want to draw your affections toward today is lingering in this phrase, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Our refuge in him is intended to be ever-present as the Spirit of Christ is ever-present with those who fear the Lord. Our refuge in the Lord isn’t intended to be only those moments of great obstacle and disaster in our lives. I wonder if we really understand the necessity of refuge in everyday life. We live in a rather industrialized, developed country with false illusions of security and sufficiency. We feel safe, so we don’t think about the safety needed when those illusions of security fail us.

A safe place meaningful to me is my grandparent’s lake house. As a high school and college student, I would deliberately not bring acquittances who I thought would ruin my safe place. It was a place I would retreat for comfort and refreshment. A place I would linger for days enjoying the lake, the animals, the plants, and the skies above. It was my refuge from life in a chaotic world, where my fears and failures would silence.

Finding refuge in the Lord is not like what Ernest Hemingway in Death in Afternoon describes as querencia: the preferred locality of safety a bull finds in an arena during a bull fight. Querencia still leaves a place of safety to be desired. But the Lord’s refuge is a place of eternal safety and trust. A place where “those who fear him have no lack” (Psalm 34:9), or as the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:10, “as having nothing, but possessing everything.”

The Lord’s refuge is different than any other refuge you might experience because it is embodied by believers in Christ even in this “present evil age”. Yes, indeed, we have been raised with Christ and your life is hidden with Christ, who is our life (Colossians 3:1-4). You, oh Jesus follower, are hidden with Christ.

Hidden with Christ is your life. This language is similar to the Hebrew concept of refuge: hidden, concealed. And as your life has been hidden with Christ in God, so you feast with Christ— you taste and see that he is good, because your life is united with his. You have the Spirit of Christ in you.

This is a moment for us to pause and ask seriously important and beautifully profound questions about our frequency and ability to taste and see the goodness of King Jesus: What is my present awareness of the Spirit of Christ in my life? What is my present relationship with the Spirit of Christ in daily, weekly, monthly moments? How is the Spirit of Christ manifestly present in moments of my life?

Whether you are young or old, you have not arrived in God’s all-encompassing holiness. There is more of Christ to taste in your life. And King David on the run from Saul knew this. He saw how Christ was at work behind the scenes protecting him from his enemies, even when he ran to his enemies.

There is yumminess in the air, because the Lord is near and he bears good gifts for those who fear and take refuge in him. Verses 8-10 explicate this theme on four occasions.

• Taste and see that the Lord is good. (vs. 8)

• Blessed is the man who take refuge in him. (vs. 8)

• Those who fear him have no lack. (vs. 9)

• Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. (vs. 10)

Why? Because “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry” (vs. 15) and “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (vs. 18).

The Lord is near and brings good gifts. Have you seen him in grace and truth? Have you seen that he is kind and compassionate? Have you seen how he heals and transforms? Have you seen the good gifts which he brings as he fulfills the Scriptures: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2; Psalm 146:7-8 // Isaiah 42:7; Leviticus 25:10).

Take heed and be glad. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together” (vs. 3)! The Scriptures say (Psalm 68:8; Ephesians 4:8), “When he ascended [from the dead] on high he led a host of captives, and he gave good gifts to men.” “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:11-15). He gave good gifts of liberation from the chains of this present evil age, and he gave good gifts that “we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10) for the good of his kingdom on earth for his glory and honor in every circumstance.

Likewise, Peter says, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:1-3).

In other words, these good gifts from the Father in Christ point us toward Jesus, grow us into imitation of Jesus, and building us together as a testimony of God’s goodness in the world— “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:3). Tasting & seeing the goodness begins by receiving “gift of God”, of which Jesus says to the Samaritan Woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

You must first taste and see that Jesus is Lord. You know that’s what I find interesting about Peter’s use of Psalm 34 in his first letter. The language coming directly from the Greek Old Testament say, “χρηστὸς ὁ κύριος” (translated “the Lord is good”). Yet one syllable change in χρηστὸς adds more robust meaning. This syllable change leads to some scribes copying First Peter to translate “the Lord is good” to “Christ (χριστός) is Lord”. Indeed, Christ is Lord and indeed he is good. Have you tasted the goodness of his salvation? Have you tasted the goodness of a life hidden in him?

King David definitively did, even despite his fears, failures, and doubts. He drank not merely once but continually from the waters of the Living God. For he says, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1) and “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

Oh, how often do we forget that the Lord gives good things when earthly things consume our hearts and minds, when we neglect to set our minds on the heavenly things (Colossians 3:1-4) and to set our eyes on “Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Look to the Father in Christ to give good gifts. The Spirit says through the Holy Scriptures, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matthew 6:11)! James clarifies that “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3).

Yet when we taste and see the goodness of the Lord our affections are (re)oriented to the things of Christ. This is why the Apostle Paul can say, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

It is the one who is near and good that strengthens him. Once again I ask, “What is your present awareness of the Spirit of Christ in your life? What is your present relationship with the Spirit of Christ in daily, weekly, monthly moments? How is the Spirit of Christ manifestly present in moments of my life? And when have you shared and bore witness to the presence of Christ to build up the body of Christ and call unbelievers into relationship with King Jesus?

King David experienced the Lord in unexpected and in non-miraculous ways. This psalm written as a psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord for protecting him from the enemies to whom he ran as he fled from King Saul (1 Samuel 21:10-15). He ran into the very town from which Goliath grew up. The very town that had heard the saying, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” Yet the Lord protected him as he fled Saul and as he eventual fled Gath. This psalm was written as a thanksgiving to the Lord when the Lord protected King David in an ordinary moment.

In every day, ordinary moments, we have experiences and encounters with the physical world, with our spouses, with our children, with nature, with food, but how often are you aware of the presence of Christ in your midst? King David invites us to taste and see that the Lord is good (vs. 8) and to magnify the Lord together (vs. 3).

Can you imagine a community of Jesus followers who share the sweetness and yumminess of the Lord to one another and their town? Can you imagine a church family who is built up because of individuals tasting and seeing the goodness of King Jesus in their individual and corporate lives? Can you imagine how your daily encounters with the Lord, with the Spirit of Christ impacts not merely our church family, but the community of Trenton, because you taste and see the kindness of the Lord routinely?

We can be a community of Jesus followers who taste and share. We can be a community of Jesus followers who lead people to something better, more delicious than Paige’s slow cooked chicken or Pam’s moist brownies or that delightful cup of Black & White coffee with notes of strawberry, milk chocolate, and peach. Will you linger with me in 2024 in regularly tasting and sharing the goodness of King Jesus among us? And as the “peace of Christ rule in our hearts” and “word of Christ dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3:15-17), may we be a people in 2024 who taste and share the goodness of King Jesus to one another and within our spiritually decaying community. To our God and Father, who by the power of His Spirit in Christ has graciously allowed us to taste his goodness, be the glory. Amen.

Infirm Yet Raised to Grace: A Brief Contemplation

As he walked past me on a sidewalk, a man generously said, “I hope your legs heal.” What a generous and compassionate wish.

I thanked him, was filled with joy, and continued along the way.

This is not the first time that someone has petitioned on my behalf for my body to be healed. I have had many strangers wish and petition on my behalf from well wishes as this gentleman to others actively pleading with the Lord in prayer, yet in my pain or suffering rest comes in the presence of Christ, the grace he imparts in the suffering.

The brokenness of my body is a daily, momentary reminder of the brokenness of humanity and my own sinfulness. As I live with a dull pain, I am reminded that Christ’s grace in me is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9-10). Christ not I, upholds my being (Col. 1:17)

I am grateful for the lame body, for in its weakness I am compelled to taste the lifegiving waters of the Father’s grace and the power of Christ. The weakness of my body diminishes my own sufficiency, my own pride, my own ego; for Christ not I, upholds my being.

I am confident my body will be healed in the resurrection (Ro. 8:23; Rev. 21:3-4). Until then, I longingly rest in the grace of the Father’s provision through the Spirit of Christ in me.

“It Is Finished”: A Good Friday Meditation

A Good Friday meditation delivered at the First United Methodist Church in Trenton, Texas on April 15, 2022.

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” — John 19:30

It is finished. One of the most powerful phrases in human vocabulary. A phrase that evokes the end of something. A phrase that declares the completion of something good or even something bad. We experience finality in all sorts of situations— crafting and eating a delicious meal or building a home. Finishing brings a sense of relief and wellbeing while anticipating a future of possibilities. 

Who would have thought that our future would be opened so radically than through this moment of human history when Jesus would sacrificially lay down his life for our sake by way of the brutally grotesque cross—a form of death that the ancient philosopher Cicero says, to paraphrase, no honorable citizen should neither speak of nor look upon (Cicero, Rab. Perd. 16)?

Our desolate future of judgment and death—our rebellion, our sin, our deceitfulness that has marred God’s design for us—Jesus took upon himself. Our filth that dominates our hearts in darkness, Jesus liberates. By his death, “[God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21), so that we could be liberated to a future of life and peace with the Father, having been “delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of [God’s] beloved Son” (Col. 1:13), King Jesus.

It is finished. Our separation from the Father is now eternally restored. No longer are we strangers and enemies to the Father but beloved children who worship in spirit and truth (Rom. 5:10; Jn. 4:24). No longer bound to the death deserved, because the One True Son of Man who laid his life down to ransom us from our bondage and the death we deserve.

His mission found completeness in his sacrifice. In his moment of God forsakenness, the disciples thought the end had come to the faithfulness of God in Israel and Jesus—death with its finality. But do not be mistaken. Something beautiful happened that day: in the midst of death and darkness God brought life. And the resurrection for which we anticipate and for which we hope points back toward this moment of darkness when Jesus satisfied the wrath of God for our good, for our life with the Father.

After Jesus said these powerful words, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit, trusting fully the One Who Sent Him to rescue creation from the grips of destruction and death. In this moment, Jesus did not do what many of us do—cling to our control and power. He did not call the angels of God from the heavens, but “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2) in humility, resulting in the “canceling the record of [our] debt [before God] that stood against us with its legal demands” (Col 2:14). Jesus trusted the faithfulness of the Father in that most vulnerable, painful, dark hour. He rested in the One “who will not abandon [his] soul to Hades” (Acts 2:27; Ps. 16:10).

In the height of our despair, our natural reaction is to exert power, to protect the self. Yet Jesus in his despair sought the joy before him. In agony, he considered our relationship to the Lifegiving Father more significant than himself. As we follow Jesus in his death, we embody the sacrifice of Jesus to others. The Father faithfully demonstrates his promises to us to bring the dry bones to life (Ez. 37) in the words: It is finished. And as we walk humbly in the Spirit of God, putting to death our desires for someone else’s good, we point others to Jesus’s last words, “It is finished”, because in these words we profess in our despair, as Jesus, the faithfulness of the God who powerfully raises the dead to praise him. 

Oh, how often we desire in our days of turmoil desire to control our circumstances or exert power over another. Yet the way of Jesus provides us with an opportunity to walk in the Lord humbly, giving thanks that he too “will not abandon [our] soul[s] to Hades.” In this climatic moment of God forsakenness, Jesus opened up a future of possibility—a possibility with a good life with the Father, completing an atoning sacrifice that neither you nor I in our blemished sinfulness could fulfill. May we find rest in the finished lifegiving sacrifice of Jesus in our weary, difficult days. 

On Discipleship, Ministry Leaders, & Critical Dialogue

You never know what that Facebook message from a congregant is going to say. As a pastor, people seek you on their way to finding or resisting rest in King Jesus. They seek rest in a deeply chaotic and broken world. They seek to be heard and find healing from sin and chaos. Often, I receive messages for more practical, informational reasons. But I often open the message anxiously to see if it’s another fire to extinguish or a critical analysis of something I did or neglected. To my surprise occasionally, it is a message of encouragement and refreshment. 

This provokes consideration concerning what I want to communicate to those whom I serve, especially about who I am and what is important in relation to those whom I serve. There does not appear to be a comprehensive way to articulate a complete response, since I am everchanging and the vantage points to answering are many. Below are three commitments that I regard as important for those whom I serve to know.

I am committed to intimate, relational discipleship. I believe that deep, sacrificial discipleship is a fundamental task for God’s people. The discipleship paradigm given by the earliest Christians following Jesus’ model is death before resurrection. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:34b-35). The apostle Paul says it this way: “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:11-12). The Apostle Paul challenges the elders at Ephesus to sacrificially give themselves to the flock of God, because Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:17-38). Giving of ourselves to the needs of others is what the gospel commands from us (Philippians 2:4ff) and takes various forms in various contexts.  

Discipleship happens in a variety of contexts, formally and informally.[1] I find sometimes that the most memorable and impactful discipleship happens at unexpecting times, in unexpecting places. Other times, the most memorable and impactful discipleship happens in expected times, in expected places. Discipleship is bigger than a time or a place. Discipleship is more than an event. Discipleship is a way of life. It happens anytime God’s people intentional or unintentional gather and live under the reign of Jesus. 

Jesus modeled discipleship in this way: as he went. Jesus understood his mission and discipled on the way. Jesus’ discipleship was not static. Although people came to Jesus, he continued on his mission. In fact, there was a group of disciples that followed Jesus as he traveled and with whom he invested in more deeply, more intimately than the crowds that sought him. Jesus was found in the Gospels teaching others on the way or discipling while feasting with a group. Jesus took opportunity both in the synagogue and beyond to bring life to those who approached him in every given context. As a Spirit-empowered people, there is no difference how we disciple. Like Jesus, we disciple on the go. We bring people alongside us as we go-about doing life under the reign of Jesus, extending grace and thanksgiving to all who come. 

Discipleship that is self-sacrificial and leads toward intimacy with one another and with the Father. It is easy for me to assent to the self-sacrificial nature of discipleship, because I know and rehearse the gospel often. But intellectual assent sometimes isn’t aligned with the heart. I know that to follow Jesus is to take up my cross and follow. I know the benefits of obedient sacrifice, but my heart rebels. The self-sacrificial nature of discipleship is rooted in Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives: Not what I will, but what you will (Mark 14:36). Our will for what is to come and what sacrifices are to be made for another to experience life in the Father is not always the will of the Father. We sacrifice desires, attitudes, and actions as we come alongside another on our journey to the New Eden, caring for and challenging one another in the faith as we are renewed day by day into the image of King Jesus by the power of his Spirit. Jesus agonized over what he took up: sacrificing himself so that you and I could be together in right relationship with the Father. While you and I are not appeasing the wrath of God for sins on behalf of humanity as Jesus did through his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father, we are divine partakers and emissaries of that good news on earth. The good news resides in us because the Spirit of Christ resides in us. As a result, we ourselves can rejoice in our sufferings for the sake of others and confess that in our flesh we are filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (Colossians 1:24). And in the end, the Spirit of the Father gives life. 

I am forever grateful for the men and women who vulnerably invested in my life and sacrificially embodied Jesus to me. These seasons have been good and refreshing to my soul and have deeply formed who I am, because they were willing to live out their faith vulnerably and sacrificially with me. My father’s theological acumen and rigorous pragmatics shaped my view of the relationship between theology and practice, my mentor’s generosity and desire to know God’s Word, my youth pastor’s weekly one-on-one discipleship, my mother’s quiet outworking of prayer and caretaking, my grandfather’s and generosity, my mentor’s wife’s hospitality and steadfastness, my New Testament’s professor’s careful exposition of Scripture and love for Christ’s kingdom, my evangelism professor’s love for the poor and homeless, my theology professor’s constant challenge to be shaped by theological belief, my father’s childhood friend’s  mission endeavors, and I could go on have all influenced my intellectual, spiritual, and emotional formation. All this influence began because someone sacrificially cared. In many cases, it began with the question “How are you?” or “Will you come along with me?” Relationships formed and the Spirit worked within me. Discipleship begins with “follow me” (Mark 8:34) and “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

I am committed to ministry leaders. Though it may sound cliché, Jesus had his twelve. I have mine. No, it’s not a literal twelve; although, it could easily be. Investing in a few is committing to the multitude. I do not merely pour myself into these few others so that they may lead and serve well, but so that the few may pour into their few so that their few may lead and serve well. I do not necessarily mean that everyone is a leader, but those who are submitted to the Messiah are able to serve Christ’s kingdom according to Spirit-enabled gifting.

God’s design for the people of God covenanted in local communities is to serve one another and the kingdom of Christ through the gifts his Spirit has given. Investing in ministry leaders (and the congregation at-large) provides opportunity to equip people for the work of ministry which the Father has called them to do for the Christ. But let’s face reality. Many people do not know where they belong in the kingdom of Christ. They know that they love Jesus and desire to be like him, but their identity in Christ and place in Christ’s kingdom has not been foraged with clarity. Yet this is a necessity for the body of Christ to strive side by side for the faith of the gospel in harmony (Philippians 1:27). Thus, the worth of discipling ministry leaders: leaders shepherding the people of God intentionally and healthily into communion with the Father by the Spirit’s power.

Discipling ministry leaders is difficult but necessary work. Discipling ministry leaders requires devoting yourself to them and their plight all the while releasing and empowering disciples to do the same. This is no easy task, rather self-sacrificial and risky. Jesus invested into and sent out his disciples who throughout his ministry doubted and betrayed him. Nevertheless, Jesus invested. Jesus continued with the disciples though they routinely doubted. Jesus knew he would betray by a disciple yet did not remove those disciples from his presence. Rather, Jesus invested, empowered, and released those disciples to participate in the mission of the kingdom of God. As a pastor shepherding the people of God, I have that same aim: investing, empowering, and releasing those disciples to participate in the mission of the kingdom of God.

I am committed to critical, transparent dialogue. One scene from a short play by Will Eno reverberates in my mind often. The coach is in his end of season press conference. It’s him and the press. The spotlight is on him, his coaching abilities, and his team’s losing season. The Coach laments,

You’re probably thinking: Could someone in this condition ever get it together and grab it with both hands and win us a championship, given the fact he’s halfway-gone in distraction…Could someone like this ever show us how not to lose? Well, I’ll tell you, because I came here to tell you a few things. I came here to feel the burn from your flash bulbs, and to speak a few things into that harsh light, my heart included. And the answer is I don’t know. I don’t know if I can lead anyone to victory, or even lead anyone anywhere. I don’t know if my plan is a good one, or even if I have a good one.[2]

Leadership is difficult, and solutions are not always evident. After an uncomfortable loss, NHL Columbus Blue Jackets’ coach, John Tortorella, walked out of his presser after reporters continued to drill him with game breakdown questions during postgame press conference after a 4 -1 loss over the Washington Capitals in the first round of the NHL playoffs. [3]

It is easy as a leader to shut out criticism and critical dialogue. Criticism without encouragement wears down leaders and becomes exhausting. Leaders can’t avoid criticism. Even if the critic is not the same day after day, there will be a critic. Some will intend harm; others intend good. Nevertheless, criticism requires leaders to swallow pride. In my experience, criticism is easier than encouragement. You don’t have to look far for criticism. Something will stick out. However, finding encouragement sometimes takes work, especially if you can’t immediately see outstanding attributes of a given situation. I have found in my experience criticism often comes without a full picture of the given situation or a difference in expectations. Yet, I do not think this invalidates a given criticism nor the one who critics. Criticism allows the leader to see blind spots in his leadership and organization. Blind spots are inevitable, but not all criticism is equally received. 

The underlying theological framework for critical, transparent dialogue in the local church begins with the identity of the congregation as a people under the reign of Christ as the people of God and of the Father’s family (Hebrews 2:10-11; 1 Peter 2:9-10). In this way we function, live, and decision-make: with our status together as fellow heirs of the kingdom, even amid a crooked world. In other words, we are eternally family. Thus, we fight and forgive one another faithfully. We disagree with compassion, bearing with one another in love (Colossians 3:12-17). We speak truth to each other in love (Ephesians 4:15). We are honest with one another. We are transparent about where we are, but we seek one another with the love of the Foremost Brother, King Jesus. We disagree but with patience seek unity in Jesus. We do all of this because the love of Christ controls us as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have hard, difficult conversations because the Father in his kindness spoke Truth to us when we were rebellious. Our brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ are evidenced by how we care for one another in critical, transparent dialogue.

A voiceless congregation is not useful for me as a pastor nor healthy for a congregation. The ministry of which I am a shepherd is not mine, but the Spirit-empowered church’s ministry; chiefly, it is Christ’s ministry, who is the Chief Shepherd. As a shepherd of the household of God, my responsibility is not to dictate oppressively what God’s people are to think and do. I appreciate a congregation that can think and do for themselves what God has called them to think and do. Sometimes this opens us up to diverse and opposing ways to achieve a given goal; yet is this not one reason God gave us reason and authority? Reason to think, and pastoral authority to serve and lead God’s people (see Acts 20:17-38).

Concluding Thoughts. The church is Christ’s congregation, in whom the Spirit is (re)shaping for the good pleasures of the Father in this present evil world. The church is an outpost and an embassy for Christ in the mist of broken world. This brokenness seeps, sometimes surging, into the life of the church as we live in the already-not-yet reality of the reign of Christ, eagerly awaiting his return. Yet we are commanded to love one another as Christ loved us; thus, the reason why we must be ready to love each other deeply, exposing our weaknesses and challenging one another to walk in Jesus’ marvelous light by dying to ourselves so that the Spirit will bring life to others through us.

[1]  Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is an example of how discipleship happens in various daily activities, whereas the Didache is an example of a formal discipleship teaching tool (that is, a catechism). For those who are not aware, the Didache is an early Christian writing that seems to be intended for those preparing for baptism into the Church.

[2] “Behold the Coach, in a Blazer, Uninsured” in Oh, the Humanity and Other Good Intentions, 12-13.

[3] https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/capitals/john-tortorella-has-no-answers-walks-out-postgame-press-conference-after-game-4

Purpose: A Cruciformed Approach to Life, Gifting, & Decision-Making

Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever. — Westminster Catechism, Question 1[1]

Q: What is our only hope in life and death? A: That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ. — New City Catechism, Question 1[2] 

While applying for a lead pastorate, I came across this question by the search team: what is your purpose? This is a big question that I think both the Westminster Catechism and New City Catechism begin to capture in their respective first question. These catechisms elucidate the heart of our purpose: wholly belonging to and glorifying the Triune Life-Giver by enjoying him forever in Christ. As I contemplated this question about purpose, I sought to consider a theological framework to articulate my purpose.[3] The goal is to briefly show how the death, resurrection, and kingship of Jesus informs my purpose as evidenced in the areas of life, gifting, and decision-making. 

My purpose is to frame my life, gifting, and decision-making in light of Jesus' death, resurrection, and kingship. I pursue this purpose in Christ through the Spirit's empowerment by the Father’s favor.

In light of Jesus' death: My decision-making is about counting others more significant than myself, because that is what Christ did for me.  This affects my marriage, my neighbors, and my service in the church. The apostle Paul says it this way, “…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies…So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:10-12). After I resigned as children’s pastor from First Baptist Church of Farmersville, I had an opportunity to serve at two other churches in the community in the interim season. Rather than serving the church that had more resources and many gifted members, I chose through the Spirit’s leading a smaller church where I thought my wife and I could serve sacrificially, deeply investing ourselves in the people, so that the Father would make much of Jesus through our investment.

In light of Jesus' resurrection: I use my gifting so that others may receive life and make much of Jesus. The Lord has given me several spiritual gifts to serve his church, including teaching, wisdom, leadership, and shepherding. As an act of worship, I use these gifts to build up Christ’s kingdom. In recent years, I have served the church, leading teams of volunteers to minister in both urban and rural areas of North Texas. Within my role as associate pastor, I have preached and taught Scripture on a regular basis as well as counseled both children and adults alike. Throughout the years, I have used my cultural acumen and language aptitude to serve Christ’s kingdom through international missions. I discern when people are on the fringe or comprise vulnerable populations. This discernment has manifested itself in numerous ways, in my prayer life, CASA volunteering, ministry to at-risk kids, and counseling special needs families. Jesus brought life to me, and through his Spirit I desire to see others experience healing and life.

In light of Jesus' kingship: My life is shaped under the authority of the King, and his kingship informs my life and my enjoyment of his creation. This truth allows me to live in freedom to Christ, knowing that everything and everyone is subject to his judgment. This evokes a lifestyle of repentance and brings a sense of liberation from the need to control circumstances.[4] Jesus reigns and I do not. As a citizen of God’s people, I serve at the pleasure of King Jesus. As a pastor, I serve as one of Christ’s under-shepherds, being shepherded by Christ himself. Living under the kingship of Jesus pushes me to serve as an ambassador of Christ’s kingdom in the midst of a broken, evil world.

[1] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster-larger-catechism/

[2] http://newcitycatechism.com/new-city-catechism/#1

[3] There is a bit more to be said at a later time about (1) framing this question theologically, (2) constructing it in roughly individualistic manner as opposed to articulating a community-oriented perspective of my purpose, and (3) the limitations and subjectivity of the use of life, gifting, and decision-making as categories. We could use theological grids to discuss ministry practice among other activities and ontologies.

[4] Repentance before God and others is an ongoing activity. Recently, I failed to be gentle to a friend. I confessed and sought forgiveness. The biblical model for apologies is confession seeking reconciliation and forgiveness. There is more to be said at a later time.

Gospel Friendship: Practical Steps

(Part 1 can be accessed here.)

As we gather, participating through the Spirit in the Father’s new creation in our local Christ community, how can we care for one another with such care? Below are seven ways that we can move from pleasantry to Christ-exalting care: 

1.     Identify the work of the Lord in your life and other around you. Ask yourself, “What is the Lord doing in my life today, this week, this season?” If you do not know, observe some areas of your life you can thank the Lord for providing, reinforcing, encouraging, and/or reshaping. Maybe through meditating on God’s Word, the Lord has changed your thinking about someone or some circumstance. Maybe through spending time with a fellow Christ follower, they have encouraged or challenged you in some way that has built you up or brought you into more intimate relationship with Jesus or his people. Maybe you see the Lord providing, encouraging, or reshaping someone else. Identify the work of the Lord and give thanks for his work. 

2.     Share with others struggles, victories, and how the Lord is shaping you. Sharing your struggles with others can be both fear-inducing and liberating. Unfortunately, sometimes people abuse the information they know. This is why many of us don’t want to share the things we think or struggle through. We’re afraid of what someone may do with the information. Rest assured, the Lord is redeeming you. He brings us out of the ashes for his glory. Creating a culture of intimacy to share struggles begins with prudence and humility. Caring for another requires a person to not haphazardly or unnecessarily share another’s struggles. Yet sharing one’s struggles can be liberating. You may be surprised that someone else has already traveled a similar road or your previous struggles and victories may give hope to others. Sharing struggles allow you to ask accountability from others or others from you. Sharing how the Lord is shaping you or observing how he is shaping someone else breaths life and hope into your Christ community, as you celebrate the Father’s redemption amongst the community through Jesus by the power of the Spirit. Prayerful discern a Jesus follower with whom you can share. Invite this person to gather with you over a meal or coffee.

3.     Ask others for help in decision-making, doing tasks, and prayer for physical and spiritual needs. Asking others for help is one way you can care for someone and they for you. Helping one another is an entry point into your life and theirs. Living life on your own can be difficult. While Jesus gave us his Spirit and his Spirit gave us Scripture to hear, the Father also gave us a Spirit-empowered community under Jesus’ authority. This community is able to use her collective wisdom, energy, and prayer life for the good for one another. Asking for help is a humbling request; yet, at the cross we are on level ground with each other. Asking for help provides intentional opportunity for your Spirit-filled community to speak into your life, for you to be known, and for you to know love those around you.

4.     Invite others to be a part of your life, messiness and all, through conversations, meals, and time together.  Intentionally inviting others into your life begins with letting yourself be known and seeking to know others. This begins with conversations and is as easy as asking someone over for dinner or to go shopping or out to a game. Find interest with another and care for them beyond your mutual interests. Yes, sometime this requires you to push beyond annoyances or interest for which you care little, but the reward of caring and being cared for outweighs your desires; although, it may not seem that way in the moment. The work of the Spirit in this relationship will be a pleasant aroma to the Father. When you invite others into life, let them see messiness of your life by inviting them into messy situations (i.e., messy house, a messy relationship, etc.), allowing them to peer into how the Lord is shaping you in all of your imperfection and messiness. Nothing can replace time together sharing “real” life with one another. 

5.     Encourage and challenge others to pursue the way of Jesus in all things. You and I live in a really messed up, evil world. There is enough cynicism and hateful criticism to go around, but it’s unacceptable among God’s people. The Bible makes this clear: believers are to encourage and to challenge another, or exhort and rebuke each other, in the faith. The spirit of both encouragement and challenging one another is to be done in a way that makes much of Jesus. How do you encourage others to pursue the way of Jesus in all things? Observe one aspect you notice about what the Lord is doing in a person’s life or something you’ve noticed that someone is doing well in the way of Jesus. When our focus is on what the Spirit of Christ is doing in us and our neighbors, our way of thinking and our approach to the world changes to see the Spirit of Christ in our midst.

6.     Pursue others with self-sacrificial love, transparency, and loyalty. Self-sacrificial love is difficult. Period. Pursuing others self-sacrificially displays the crucified-yet-risen Jesus to others, which makes the difficulty of self-sacrifice and transparency worth the pursuit. This may mean that you or I are burned by others occasionally, but we’ve burned Jesus; yet Jesus pursues us for the glory of the Father. Be faithful and loyal in your friendships, even when it hurts. Have mercy and compassion when pursuing others. Give opportunities for another person to walk with you through difficult seasons. Don’t gloss over the messiness. Work in the messiness to care for another. Let the work of the Spirit be at work in your messiness and walk with others in their messiness.

7.     Permit others to care for you with the self-sacrificial love of Jesus. While you may enjoy caring for others, letting others care for you also displays the crucified-yet-risen Jesus. Permitting this care from others begins with a posture of humility, laying down yourself at the level ground of the cross. The Spirit has gifted others with gifts, talents, and resources to be used for to serve others and the kingdom of Christ. Declining another’s care may, in fact, decline Christ’s provision for you in a given circumstance. How you permit others to care for you demonstrates how you view yourself in light of the reign of Christ. Do you allow the people of God to care for you or are you self-reliant? How do you permit others to care for you?