Paul Stewart

What is an Ordinary Christian?

Over the weekend Dr. Anthony Bradley wrote an article over at World Magazine entitled “The New Legalism” in which he asserts that the recent push to be ‘radical’ and ‘missional’ discourages ordinary people in ordinary places from doing ordinary things to the glory of God.  

“The combination of anti-suburbanism with new categories like “missional” and “radical” has positioned a generation of youth and young adults to experience an intense amount of shame for simply being ordinary Christians who desire to love God and love their neighbors (Matthew 22:36-40). In fact, missional, radical Christianity could easily be called the “new legalism.””

Bradley goes on to say:

“As a result, living out one’s faith became narrowly celebratory only when done in a unique and special way, a “missional” way. Getting married and having children early, getting a job, saving and investing, being a good citizen, loving one’s neighbor, and the like, no longer qualify as virtuous. One has to be involved in arts and social justice activities—even if justice is pursued without sound economics or social teaching.”

Today Jamie Arpin-Ricci (a missional, inner-city, church-planter) wrote a response entitled A Christianity To Difficult in which he acknowledges some of the problems that Bradley identifies, however, in light of how most Christians around the world live, has a hard time feeling too much sympathy for those who are almost entirely made up of the world’s most privileged few.

“As some of the most privileged people in the history of humanity, I worry about any attempt to ease our “burden”, especially when our privilege was and is all too often bought on the suffering of others elsewhere. We cannot address African poverty without addressing North American affluence. We cannot think that we can do small acts of justice for the suffering out of wealth and power that contributes to the very injustices we are seeking to alleviate. Living as Christ calls us requires radical- not ambitious- faithfulness. The love that Jesus calls us to is recklessly radical. But in it we will find fullness of life.  

Perhaps the biggest disagreement between these two men, and the tension that many young evangelical Christians find themselves in (including myself), is in trying to define what “being an ordinary Christian” actually looks like. We are all called to love our neighbor - but which neighborhood will that be in? We are all called to care for the poor - but should that involve selling all our earthly possessions or stewarding our resources faithfully? 

And at a deeper and much more important level, what are the underlying reasons behind the choices we make? Are our lifestyles/callings being driven by a culture of shame, guilt, and spiritual narcissim? Or are they simply being reinforced by a culture of greed and materialism? As Alan Hirsch reminds us: “All forms of activism can become legalistic in their efforts to motivate God’s people from being mere consumers of religious goods and services to being active disciples, and so we always need to be watchful.”

What do you think? What does an ordinary Christian look like for you?

Real Beauty

This is such an incredible (advertisement???). Not sure what this has to do with soap, but the message is full of truth and beauty.

The more time you spend studying your reflection in the mirror, the less self-aware you become. Concentrate less on your reflection in the mirror and more on your reflection in the people you care about.

Books for Singles

We are in a sermon series right now at Gateway entitled Marriage, Sex & Singleness. Christianity presents a revolutionary view on each of these topics. It is a view that was as controversial then as it is now. CS Lewis wrote that the Christian teaching on sex has always been the most unpopular of all the Christian virtues. 

There is no getting away from it: the old Christian rule is, “Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence.” Now this is so difficult and so contrary to our instincts, that obviously either Christianity is wrong or our sexual instinct, as it now is, has gone wrong. - CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

Of course he argues the latter but today the Christian ethic of abstinence outside of marriage is considered at best laughably unrealistic, and at worst pathological and abnormal. In fact, the primary reason Christians do not have the conviction to challenge our present-day culture on these issues is that a growing number of Christians now doubt the entire Christian teaching on human sexuality. They feel it is wrong to condemn any consensual sexual behavior.

The challenge for Christians in the 21st century is not to use the same old arguments to try to persuade our culture, yet neither should Christians blindly or reflexively adjust theology just to accommodate the sexual revolution of our day.

The church needs to, first of all, reexamine the biblical teaching to see if modification or rediscovery is in order. And then, maybe even more importantly, wrestle with how we remain faithful to this most unpopular Christian virtue in the midst of the sexually saturated, individualistic, and consumer-driven culture we find ourselves in.

Additionally the church must do a much better job of understanding, resourcing, and supporting those who whether by choice or by circumstance, for a season or for life, find themselves called to singleness. Here are a few books that would be a great place to start (HT: Anna Broadway)

Sexuality and Holy Longing: Embracing Intimacy in a Broken World
Lisa Graham McMinn (Jossey-Bass)

McMinn provides a helpful framework for single-Christian sexuality that reckons equally with the reality of embodiment, the Bible, and our cultural moment. She's especially insightful on subtler dynamics, such as the ways women compete for men's attention.

How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk: The Foolproof Way to Follow Your Heart without Losing Your Mind
John Van Epp (McGraw-Hill)

Singleness often means keeping one eye open for romantic prospects. But the American church has provided much conflicting and confusing advice on the search for love. Counselor and Christian Van Epp has the best advice I've read on finding a partner.

Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life under Christ's Control
Elisabeth Elliot (Revell)

Some books on singleness and chastity downplay the strength of desire one may face, but Elliot grapples candidly and boldly with both her sexual and romantic longings and the God she loves. Rightfully a classic.

Hinds' Feet on High Places
Hannah Hurnard (Wilder Publications)

Though not a traditional "singleness" book, anyone struggling through a protracted and unwanted romantic dry spell may draw strength from this memorable allgory about the painful but worthwhile journey of following Jesus. This encouraged me to trust him more deeply.

---

Additionally, Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill is a must read to understand a homosexual Christian's understanding of this issue.

Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality
Wesley Hill 

Part memoir, part pastoral-theological reflection, this book wrestles with many areas of struggle that many gay Christians face: What is God's will for sexuality? If the historic Christian tradition is right and same-sex behavior is ruled out, how should gay Christians deal with their resulting loneliness? Author Wesley Hill is not advocating that it is possible for every gay Christian to become straight, nor is he saying that God affirms homosexuality. Instead, Hill comes alongside other gay Christians and says, 'You are not alone. Here is my experience; it's like yours. And God is with us. We can share in God's grace.'

Come & Listen

Last weekend at Gateway we successfully launched our second worship service. On top of that we rolled out a brand new stage design, child check-in process, connection table and newcomer assimilation process. Needless to say, it was a busy week. In fact this week I felt a lot like I did two years ago after our very first worship service. Tired and happy. But all of our hard work paid off. We had over 230 people in attendance with dozens of first-time visitors. I am so proud of our staff, our ministry teams and our entire church. God is really doing something remarkable in downtown Des Moines.

This Sunday we are beginning a new sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Nowhere does Jesus talk more clearly about what it looks like to follow him than in the Sermon on the Mount. It's a provocative and counter-intuitive announcement about what happens when God shows up: The poor, the meek, and those who mourn are called blessed. Enemies are loved, the poor are cared for God's will is done on earth.

Jesus is announcing that God is showing up! That the life of heaven, which had seemed so distant and unreal, is in the process of coming true on earth. These are not rules that need to be obeyed in order to be rewarded. Things to avoid if you want to make it to heaven. This is an announcement about an entirely new state of affairs, a new reality which is in the process of bursting into the world. 

The sermon is a radical call to action. It sets forth a revolutionary new way of life. We are told to 'turn the other cheek' to 'love our enemies' and to 'invest our treasure in heaven.' But all of these demands are ultimately a summons - beckoning us to experience His kingdom, to live under its values, right now in the present. Come and listen! The kingdom of God is here.

Convoy of Hope is Coming to Des Moines

On November 12th Gateway will be partnering with a number of other churches in our city along with corporations, schools, non-profit agencies and thousands of volunteers in  one of the largest community outreaches our city has ever seen. 

The event will be held on Saturday, November 12th from 10am - 2pm at Wells Fargo Arena downtown Des Moines. We'll provide thousands of free groceries, job and health fairs, haircuts and makeovers as well as inflatables and activities for children.

Volunteers will be given an opportunity to connect with thousands of people in our city and display Christ’s love and mercy to all - regardless of age, race, physical appearance, or spiritual condition.

If you attend Gateway you can sign up to volunteer by clicking HERE.
If you don't attend Gateway but you, your church or your organization would like to get involved go HERE. 

Steve Jobs and the Meaning of Life

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
                                                                         - Steve Jobs

The consciousness of death is the beginning of all philosophy. It causes you to stop and question - what really matters? What does it all mean? What am I doing that will last? I was struck when I picked up the newspaper this morning and learned of Steve Jobs death. He had such an impact on my life through the films he helped create at Pixar to the technology he designed at Apple. Our world will never be the same. Or will it?

The quote above is from Jobs' commencement address at Stanford in 2005 and has been making the rounds across the internet over the past 24 hours. The words are inspiring and especially poignant on a day like today, however, I’m not sure I agree.

At Gateway we’ve been in a sermon series on Ecclesiastes. This book is unlike any other book in the Bible. Most of the books of the Bible we go to to find answers. But Ecclesiastes is a book of questions, not answers. It was written to draw something out of you. It asks life’s tough questions and pushes you to the follow the logical conclusion of your assumptions and beliefs. It asks, “Why do you believe that? And if you believe that, do you see where that belief ultimately leads?”

It begins like this: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?”

The word “meaningless” and the phrase “under the sun” are repeated again and again throughout the book and are the keys to understanding the approach of the Teacher.

The Hebrew word for “meaningless” is hevel which translates vapor, mist, or breath. Life is vapor. It’s all a mist. Success, invention, money, fame, wisdom, education, power - it’s all hevel. It is here today and gone tomorrow.

The phrase “under the sun” refers to the realm of the created, which exists in time. Namely the time between the day you were born and the day you die. It is everything we can touch, see and observe. The Teacher is saying, “Let’s assume that nature is all there is. Let’s assume that the only life is the life under the sun. There is no heaven or hell. There is no God. If that is the case, what does it all mean?”

This book was written thousands of years ago, but this is actually a very modern approach. Every scientist will tell you that one day our sun will burn up and die. Which means that absolutely everything you do will be utterly forgotten. Nothing you do will make any lasting difference. There is no gain! There is no profit! It is all meaningless!

If this life is all there is then death trumps every card you can play.

No amount of strategic planning.
No amount of due-diligence.
No amount of risk management.
No amount of hard work will stop it!

So in the face of death what does really matter? What can we do that will last? What does it all mean?

Like Jobs, the Teacher tries “following his heart.” He pursues a variety of different paths. Pleasure and frivolity (2v10); wisdom and education (2v15); work and philanthropy (2v4). Like Jobs he did it all. Accomplished it all. He got the BMW. Solved the equation. Finished the book. Invented the iPod. Then he looks all that he had done and has the guts to ask - what does it all mean? “When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (2v11)

If our origin is insignificant and our destiny is insignificant then our lives must be insignificant. Following your heart is just vague sentimentality. 

So what is the answer? The book of Ecclesiastes only hints at it. In the end the Teacher concludes, “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (2v24). Here, for the first time in this book, we see God begin to invade life under the sun. God the uncreated entering into the realm of the created. 

What is the Teacher saying? 

Either there is life above the sun - a God who created you, sustains you, and will ultimately judge you - or else everything is ultimately meaningless. Either there is life above the sun and there is meaning or there is only life under the sun and nothing means anything. And there is no middle ground.

So how do we know?

John chapter 1 says, “In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God... The logos became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

Logos is a Greek philosophical term that essentially meant the reason for life. In the time before Christ the Greek philosophers used to get together and say, “if we could just discover the logos of life, then things will be fine.” So they would argue about what the logos could be. Confucius said we should honor our parents and ancestors. Others said our logos is to make the world a better place. Others said we should just follow our heart. But everyone found that when they brought their lives into accord with it, it didn’t transform them.

By the time Jesus arrived many were saying there is no logos. There is no meaning in life.

And into that, John steps in and says there is logos. But the logos is not a truth brought by a person, it is a truth that is a person. It is not an abstract principle or theorem. The logos is a human being. God come to earth. Invading life under the sun. Dwelling among us. Showing us how much we matter. How much creation matters. How much every moment of our lives matter!

And when you know this logos you find your reason for life and now instead of nothing meaning anything, everything means everything.

To be a Christian means to follow Christ and reflect his nature - and when you do you begin to realize that everything in this life matters. Every moment. Every child’s hug. Every midnight conversation. Every walk in nature. Everything is a reflection of the truth of God’s nature.

I know the reason that Winter turns into Spring and that a seed becomes flower is because God brings life out of death.

I know that when I talk to someone in the airport, I could have the opportunity to turn them toward God and that conversation could be something that 3 billion years from now we look back on with laughter and tears in our eyes because right now counts forever. 

I know that when my baby is crying at 4am and I go to help her out that this child is not just the result of a random collision of molecules and that nothing she ever does will ultimately matter. No. I know this child is created in the image of God. Created with an immortal soul. If this child turns toward the Lord than someday we will sit together around the throne of God laughing and loving and rejoicing in eternity.

When I clean my house, wash my car, cook a meal - this is not just an electro-chemical need in my brain for order. It’s because I was made in the image of a God who brings order out of chaos.

Everything means everything or nothing means anything. If Jesus becomes your logos - than every moment matters.

2 Years. 2 Services.

In the past two years Gateway has grown from a handful of people meeting in a living room to nearly 200 gathering weekly to discover the way of Jesus, to connect with community, and to explore together ways we can serve one another and our world.

On October 16th, in an effort to accomodate continued growth and impact on our city, we will be launching a second service. The new service times will be 9am & 10:45am and will be identical.

Our gatherings are a great opportunity to express our faith together through song, Scripture reading and teaching. To meditate together on the truths of the gospel: God’s beauty and holiness, our brokenness and need for humility, grace, and healing, and the glory of Christ in uniting us to God and to one another in love. If you're in Des Moines, we would love for you to join us!

A New Kind of Pentecostal

This week the 54th General Council of the Assemblies of God was held down in Phoenix, Arizona. I was unable to attend, but have followed along from a distance. There were only a few issues on the docket that really seemed substantial but what I am most excited about is the tone coming out of Phoenix. 

There is no question that we are a different movement than we were only four years ago. We are a fellowship that is more gender, race and age inclusive; more compassionate and forgiving; more passionate and strategic; a people full of the Holy Spirit and yet more prepared than ever for Him to move in and through us in new and creative ways. A movement that I believe is both more true to its roots and more relevant for the future.

While the Assemblies of God never completely abandoned issues of justice and mercy - creating such incredible ministries as Teen Challenge, Latin American Childcare and more recently Convoy of Hope - we are now more intentional than ever about social action. In 2009, General Superintendent George Wood led the charge to add 'compassion' as the fourth element in our reason for being—in recognition that Jesus came to glorify God (worship), save the lost (evangelize), make disciples (disciple), but also serve human need (compassion).

I believe this small and seemingly obvious change to our bylaws has already helped our  movement become more true to the whole-gospel message; more aware of the needs of our Pentecostal brothers and sisters around the world (close to 600 million) and more relevant to a new generation of Pentecostal pastors and leaders. 

This week Christianity Today ran “A New Kind of Pentecostal” highlighting many of these changes. In it Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, points out that for decades American Pentecostalism has been predominantly white and rural but it will soon become primarily ethnic and urban. 

Rodriguez also notes that American Pentecostals have traditionally held a vertical worldview of their faith, focusing on personal beliefs and a salvation that prepares one's soul to make the Rapture.

Ethnic Pentecostals on the other hand say, 'I am saved by grace, but I also receive the power of God so my family can be transformed, and so we can overcome social ills and gangs in our neighborhood.' The priorities of this [ethnic Pentecostal] community are issues of life, biblical marriage, education, sex trafficking, immigration reform, poverty alleviation—all under the canopy of the Great Commission."

Rodriguez says that recently there has been a shift that has drawn younger Pentecostals to both the vertical and horizontal planes of the Cross.

The new Pentecostals "stand at the nexus of both dynamics—salvation and transformation, covenant and community, righteousness and justice, Billy Graham and Dr. Martin Luther King. 

The Spirit is always moving; always renewing. Our Pentecostal forefathers were able to perceive that and follow the Spirit in remarkable ways. The World Christian Encyclopedia states that in 1900, only seven-tenths of 1 percent of Christians were Pentecostal; today, approximately 25 percent are. 

But how do we maintain this momentum going forward? This is a problem for every institution, but unlike Lutherans or Methodists we can’t look back and find our identity from the writings of our founder. Rather the “identity” of our movement was a common experience of the Holy Spirit by a group of very common people.

This experience can never be passed down through a doctrine. In fact, the key to the Pentecostal movement was never about a doctrine but a passionate pursuit of God for an empowering work of the Spirit to carry forth the Great Commission of Jesus.

Pentecostalism, therefore, only works for one generation. After that it is Pentecostal in name only, unless there is another revival. But revival never looks the same twice. Every generation must experience the Spirit for themselves. The Spirit is always moving; always renewing. 

May we never confine the supernatural move of the Spirit into a simple formula, doctrine or institution. Rather may we continue to perceive the Spirit’s movement in our generation, adapt to Him and join in His renewal of all things. 

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Isaiah 43v19

Support A Creative Theology

One of our dreams for The Gateway Church has always been that it would become a place that would foster the arts, cultivate imagination and unleash the creativity inside the human spirit to change the world. 

That is why I am so excited about A Creative Theology - a new book written by my friend Sam Mahlstadt. This book wrestles with the concepts of faith and creativity. Foundational to the book is the belief that there is something theological about creativity. That if we explore the relational force of creativity, we will uncover something both fascinating and life-changing.

The book is filled with profound insights on the beauty of creation, the ravages of the fall and the promise of restoration. It is a passionate call to wake up the creative spirit that has been woven into all of us but lies dormant within so many of us and to join The Creator in His project of restoration and renewal.

Sam worked together with a few talented designers from Gateway on creating a book that is so much more than a book. They have turned a series of words and thoughts into beautiful art. You can view some samples here.

With our help, Sam will be publishing this as a full-color, hardcover book that you will return to not only for the concepts within the pages, but for the inspiring modern design. Click here to find out more and to help Sam get this incredible project off the ground!

Evangelical Celebrity Death Match

This week another well known Christian speaker and author has thrown his hat in the ring on the debate about hell, creating some kind of an evangelical celebrity death match: Francis Chan vs. Rob Bell. 

Let me say that I have deep respect for these men but I strongly disagree with both of them on this issue. In fact, I find Chan's recently posted ad for his new book Erasing Hell as troubling as anything I read or heard from Bell.

 

It seems to me that the main thrust of Chan's argument for the traditional understanding of hell (eternal conscious torment) is that God's ways are not like our ways. His justice is higher than our justice. His love is not like our love. Chan's says, “I’m a piece of clay trying to explain to other pieces of clay what the potter is like. It’s silly to think we are experts on him. Our only hope is that he would reveal to us what he is like, and then we repeat those things.”

All of this is of course true, but Chan is using this as a starting point to show what can and cannot be known about God. This is what I find troubling.

All Christian doctrines undergo a certain amount of development over time. A variety of factors in society, history and philosophical thought impact the way issues are viewed and interpreted. Scripture is of course primary - but it is illumined by two millennia of Church history, vivified in personal experience and confirmed by reason.

In other words, the traditional doctrine of hell forms a "lens" through which we view and interpret the Bible. But unlike the Bible, tradition is not infallible and it must be balanced and tested by reason and experience. Reason (rational thinking and sensible interpretation) and experience (how a particular view of scripture is actually lived out) is the means by which we may evaluate and even challenge the assumptions of tradition and adjust our interpretations of Scripture.

This is what I find so troubling about Chan's video. Arguments such as these, whether offered in love and humility or with contempt and fear, have been used by religion for thousands of years to prop up the existing tradition and stifle reason and sensible interpretation.

This morning over at Jesus Creed, pastor-philosopher Jeff Cook offers up three more important critiques to Chan's video (his book has not been released yet) which I would like to share with you here:

(1) In contrast to Chan’s claim, we need to rationally wrestle with our views about who God is and what he does, and to fail to do so is sloth. Scripturally speaking God invites us to use our minds when engaging who he is and what he does (Isa 1:18, Rm 12:2, among many others). In fact, we put God’s actions “in submission to our reasoning” every time we say that what God does is praise-worthy, loving, good, just, wise, self-sacrificial, etc, These are all rational assessments of God’s nature, actions, and character—and they should not be avoided. I can bring into this discussion two quotations from those who have pondered Job — one from C.S. Lewis and one from Robert Gordis.

“The point [of Job] is that the man who accepts our ordinary standard of good and by it hotly criticizes divine justice receives the divine approval: the orthodox, pious people who palter with that standard in the attempt to justify God are condemned.  Apparently the way to advance from our imperfect apprehension of justice to the absolute justice is not to throw our imperfect apprehensions aside but boldly to go on applying them” (C.S. Lewis, “De Futilitate,” in Christian Reflections, 70).

“Faced with the tragic dilemma of a righteous man’s suffering in an immoral world created by a righteous God, Job is nevertheless unwilling to surrender his ideal of rectitude ” (R. Gordis, Book of God and Man: A Study of Job , 153).

(2) There’s a real problem with criticizing all claims that begin with, “I wouldn’t believe in a God who would….” We should choose not to believe in a God who would … repeatedly torture three year olds for fun. We should choose not to believe in a God who would …. command cowardice, betrayal, abuse, and ignorance.

“Belief in God” implies trust and devotion, and it seems to me *some* pictures of God are not worthy of either trust or devotion.

Now, if I say, “I wouldn’t believe in a God who would … create a few billion people, knowing that they will never believe in him and are irreversibly destined to suffer in unending isolation and fire,” that *can be* an appropriate move. I can make that move while acknowledging that my course of action “might be the one flawed.” I can make that move while acknowledging that God’s “sense of justice” is superior to mine, and that God thinks about things in a different way than I do.

What those who defend the traditional view of hell must do is showcase why a good God *could* think unending conscious torment is the best option for the damned. Otherwise, it seems appropriate for a reasonable person (if they believe a “good” being by definition will not create conditions in which a person will experience torment for countless lifetimes) to either reject that picture of God or reject that view of hell.

(3) The idea of “justice” must be the same for God and for us, otherwise the term lacks linguistic value. Chan asks, “Do you ever even consider the possibility that maybe the creator’s sense of justice is actually more developed than yours?” Of course it is in one sense, but if God’s concept of justice is radically different than ours then it makes no sense for us to call God “just” any more. If we are to talk about “justice” at all, the definition must hold for ants as well as deities, otherwise we are talking of apples and oranges and all such language breaks down.

Cook concludes by saying that what Chan and others must do is show how the traditional view of hell is in any way “just,” The response that, “God knows things we don’t” or “God does things we wouldn’t do” is insufficient here (In philosophical jargon, this is a “phantom argument”). Some kind of story needs to be told that makes initiating eternal conscious torment morally praise-worthy and in accord with what we mean (or should mean) by “justice.”

Those who affirm the traditional view of hell need to do more than say “this is what the Bible says and we’re just repeating it.” Everyone involved in the debate about hell right now is saying “this is what the Bible says”. What those who affirm the traditional view must show is why that view is worthy of devotion.

By the way, Tim Keller does that better than anyone in his book Reason for God and in an article he posted HERE and I hope that in the book Chan will move more in that direction.