Tag: gospel

My Worth is Not in What I Own

I have a lot of stuff.

When my wife and I moved into our house, we thought we’d be able to reduce some of the clutter that was beginning to fill up our 2-bedroom campus family dorm. What ended up happening was our house gave us more room for more clutter.

We aren’t really hoarders or anything like that though some things have sentimental value that are hard to let go of. A lot of the stuff we have is baby stuff which, of course, we know we can’t really do much about now having two babies and all. But outside of furniture, we just have a lot of stuff that sometimes, when I find, I think to myself, “When and why did I buy this?“

Furthermore, we might get an Amazon delivery to our house every week. I know for a fact right now that I am waiting on at least 3 packages from different places.

All this to say, yet again: I have a lot of stuff.

Part of why we keep a lot of stuff is because of the value. A lot of the time we keep it because it has sentimental value. But some of our stuff we keep because of monetary value. I’ll check the price on some of my basketball shoes that I am trying to sell to see if it’s up to date or if I could sell it for more. I’ll get an email now and again letting me know that the value of my house property has risen. One of my greater fears right now is that the value of my house will have dropped because we made a DIY gravel patio in our backyard. You would think it would add value to the home but I’m afraid it’s not super pretty so it may have done the opposite.

It’s very easy to get caught up in this concept of value and make the mistake that my value changes because of stuff. And not necessary the things that I own, but the stuff that makes me me.

An easy example: I am a pastor at a small church. Is my value as a pastor not as high as a pastor of a larger church? If my sermons are not as good, does that lessen my value to my members? How is that value measured? My pay? The offering basket? Baptisms? Confessions of faith?

A song that has been on my heart recently is a hymn written by Graham Kendrick and Keith and Kristyn Getty called ‘My Worth is Not in What I Own’:

It’s a beautiful song that I’ve heard plenty of times before. However, this season in my life has made this song suddenly resonate a little more strongly than it has before. Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1
My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love at the cross

Verse 2
My worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross

Chorus
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone

Verse 3
As summer flowers we fade and die
Fame youth and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us at the cross

Verse 4
I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom’s fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ at the cross

Verse 5
Two wonders here that I confess
My worth and my unworthiness
My value fixed my ransom paid at the cross

These words have been a shelter for my soul as I have been up and down with different circumstances that make me question my value in the eyes of friends, family, co-workers, and church members.

The truth that this hymn reminds me of is that my value and worth is not in my gifts, my skills, my weaknesses, my vocation, my looks, my success, my failures, or anything else other than the very precious worth Jesus Christ. He died for me in my place. His life is worth infinitely more than mine and yet it was sacrificed for my sake. That is my value. Not anything or anyone else.

I hope this encourages any of you who might be going through a season of life that is making you question your value and your worth. Have faith in Jesus who has redeemed you and loves you even now as you are because of His work on the cross.

3 Books I Read in 2021

I made it a goal to read 1 book every 2 weeks in 2021. I made a list of the books I wanted to read. I chose half of the books to help me with theology and ministry and the other half to do with my family and fatherhood. That would have given me 26 books for the year. It was quite an impressive list.

While I did read more books in 2021 than I did the year before, I do not think I read a single book on the list I made.

HOWEVER I did read some other books that were helpful to me. Here are three that helped me to think through some issues that I had been thinking about this past year in 2021.

  1. The Path to Being a Pastor: A Guide for the Aspiring by Bobby Jamieson.
    This book was maybe the most memorable book I read this year. I read through it with a friend from work who is figuring out his “calling” to the pastorate. As this book will argue, the language of “calling” may not be helpful or even biblically accurate when considering the path to being a pastor. He uses the word “aspiring” which is closer to what the Bible uses when talking about the qualifications for eldership in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. He lays out practical considerations that a man might think about when taking steps towards the pastorate such as whether or not seminary is necessary, the burden a pastorate might put on his family, and the qualifications listed out in 1 Timothy and in Titus.

    It is short (less than 200 pages) and concise and I think it might be the most helpful book on this topic. It’s not a scholarly or theological deep-dive on each Greek word used in the passages talking about pastoral qualification. It felt more like talking to a friend who already has gone through and experienced the ups and downs of pursuing the pastorate and he is just passing on his insight and wisdom on it. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone considering becoming a pastor.
  2. Men and Women in the Church by Kevin Deyoung.
    This was one of the last books I read in 2021. I was attempting to find something readable for the members of my church to explain and lay a foundation for holding a complementarian theology. The subtitle to this book is ‘A short, biblical, practical introduction’. I believe that to be an apt description. It is a 176 page book that gives biblical arguments for complementarian theology. It is practical in the sense that he does speak to how it affects the church and the home.
    I appreciate his awareness of the controversial nature of the topic, especially in today’s #MeToo and #ChurchToo cancel culture. He still stands his ground because he does stake his claim in the Bible which is the ultimate source of authority.

    In spite of that, I still felt a little cringe-y reading some parts of the book. For example, he brought up an argument that an old theologian used about the reason why wives are typically in the home while husbands go out to work as the breadwinner is because Eve was created inside the garden (her home) while Adam was created outside of the garden and placed into it. They were both created in their areas of major influence that they have a special relationship with. I felt like this was a stretch but apparently, it’s something that complementarians argue and it led me to think more on the topic.

    Overall, I am not sure yet if I would want to use this as an introduction to complementarian theology for my church members. I want to be confident that I can argue, in good conscience, the same things that the book argues before I let it be the book that forms our theology on the roles of men and women in the church and at home. It will require further study on my part and a searching of my heart to see whether the Bible is forming me in this aspect of the Christian life or if the culture is. It was a thought-provoking book to say the least.
  3. The Compelling Community: Where God’s Power Makes a Church by Mark Dever & Jamie Dunlop
    I read this book alongside some men I am discipling to grow as leaders in my church. It was a helpful and practical book in building a gospel-centered culture. The main argument of the book is that a church should have at its center the gospel as her main ‘attraction’. Many modern churches today have so many different ministries for so many different things. A lot of ministries are split up into demographics or common life experiences. The concern the book has with that philosophy of ministry is that it puts the focus or ‘attraction’ of the church as the carefully catered nature of the community itself as opposed to the power that created the community. When a church has a diverse community that crosses racial lines, socio-economic, age, and life stage, doing ministry together all at once, it more fully demonstrates the unifying power of the gospel. When each demographic is split up with it’s own pastor or minister, it may demonstrate that you need some sort of common ground or experience in order to truly be a part of the family of God. While common ground and experiences are convenient, it doesn’t take any gospel power to bring people with common ground and experiences together. The world can accomplish that. What makes (or what should make) the community of the church so compelling is the power of the gospel to bring people who may never interact otherwise together with the sole purpose of bringing glory and honor to their Creator.

    In reading it, I discovered that this is exactly what I would love my church to embrace as a culture. I had a recent conversation with my friends about this because I was going back and forth about whether or not I wanted to have a ‘married couples small group’ at our church. They said that this ‘compelling community’ was worth dying on a hill for. In the end, I decided that as long as the trajectory is towards discipling one another and future married couples, I think it fits within the vision of the book. It is not an easy hill to climb but I hope to plant a flag at the top and this book helps me to do that.

I hope that these books will be as helpful and thought-provoking as they were to me. I hope to read many more books in the year of 2022 that will help build both my family and my church.

An Age of Anxiety

Personally speaking, I am not sure I have lived through a time in my life that could have caused more anxiety and restlessness. Considering everything that has happened in the past year or so, I feel like I should have imploded because of panic and stress. On top of my own personal challenges and responsibilities like providing for my family, keeping in touch with church members, and preparing to preach every week, everything that has been happening in the public sphere has exacerbated my stress. The COVID-19 global pandemic, social and political unrest, conspiracy theories and insurrections, all have contributed to the stress and anxiety that burdens myself and my loved ones.

How do we respond to this? How do we live through an age of anxiety?

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus is teaching the disciples about the kingdom of heaven and what the people of the kingdom of heaven are like. However, he does so in a way that distinguishes the citizens of the kingdom of heaven from the citizens of the kingdoms of the world.

In the back half of chapter 6 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus confronts our anxieties caused by daily needs. He says this:

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 

Jesus distinguishes those in the kingdom of heaven from those of the world (Gentiles) by speaking about the things that they ‘seek after’. The world seeks after things for the life and body but God’s children, those in the kingdom of heaven, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness. They seek after God’s will to be done in this world and, in so doing, the life and body are taken care of. Our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things and he graciously provides. Therefore, we do not need to be anxious about these things.

What really ties this altogether is verse 34, the final verse of chapter 6:

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“

There’s a story in the book of Exodus about the Israelites as they left Egypt. They are wandering in the wilderness and they grew hungry and complained to Moses. So Moses relays the message and the Lord provides bread from heaven along with instruction: collect enough for you and your family every day. On the 6th day (the day before the Sabbath), collect a double portion and do not go out into the fields to collect on the Sabbath.

The Israelites, however, did not listen. They collected enough for the day but then they would save some of it for the next day. However, the bread that they saved for the next day rotted and stank up the camp. Furthermore, they were to collect a double portion on the 6th day so that they would not break the Sabbath the next day, and yet they went out to the fields to collect on the Sabbath instead of resting like they were supposed to!

I think these thoughts help illustrate a few things that can help us engage the age of anxiety we live in:

  1. Our heavenly Father provides new grace for every day. Like the Israelites who saved up their daily bread for the next day only to have it rot away, we need to remember that there’s no need to save up today’s grace for tomorrow’s troubles. Our heavenly Father desires for us to daily depend on Him. Receive today’s grace by faith today and embrace it to seek after his kingdom and his righteousness today. When we do, we can freely rest in him and worship him knowing that he has graciously provided all that we need.
  2. The rest we find in Jesus distinguishes the kingdom of heaven from the kingdoms of the world. I think it is easy to romanticize the world before COVID-19 and before the insurrection and maybe even before President Donald Trump. But the reality is we have had plenty of other stressors and anxieties before all of that. Nothing has changed except now we have to wear masks in public. But the kingdom of heaven hasn’t changed either. And in the kingdom of heaven, we have a king who gives rest to his people as he takes on the burdens of the world. This rest we have because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is what should characterize those of us who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
  3. Freedom from anxiety and heavenly provision serves as a glorious witness to the world about the character and nature of God. In an age of anxiety where people are not sure whether they will be employed for much longer, whether their business is going to be shut down by the pandemic or set on fire by protestors, if their kids are going to make it to the next grade because they haven’t been showing up to online classes, when there’s a gathered group of people who somehow have peace and rest in the midst of all those troubles and challenges, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It doesn’t mean this group of people aren’t struggling through those same challenges, it’s that somehow they persevere and make it through and still manage to live day by day with joy and dependence on something other than government stimulus checks. This is how the Church can be a witness about the wisdom and power of God. The Church can be salt and light in an age of anxiety, testifying to the provision of a gracious heavenly Father and the rest they have in a crucified Savior King.

The thing about the kingdom of heaven is that it is a present glimpse of a future reality. Today, we must fight anxiety by resting in the work of Christ, but in the future the fight will be over and we will know eternal Rest. Today, we must seek his kingdom and his righteousness, but in the future his kingdom will be consummated and his righteousness found. Today, our challenges both private and public may cripple us but in the future all will healed.

So, in the end, until the future age of the kingdom of heaven finally begins when our Savior King returns, there’s only one way to live through this age of anxiety: day by day.