"Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes"

“The idea of a situation in which faith is possible is only a way of stating the facts of a case in which the following two propositions hold good and are equally true: only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes….. ‘Only those who believe obey’ is what we say to that part of a believer’s soul which obeys, and ‘only those who obey believe’ is what we say to that part of the soul of the obedient which believes. If the first half of the proposition stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of cheap grace, which is another word for damnation. If the second half stands alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of salvation through works, which is also another word for damnation.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship

     In his second chapter, The Call to Discipleship, of this book, Bonhoeffer is describing that the call that Jesus Christ issued to those who were to become his closest followers was a call that demanded immediate and unquestioned obedience to follow. Bonhoeffer argued that the reason that these followers became immediate and unquestioning followers was one simple and profound reason: “the absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus.” He furthered his argument by demonstrating that the initial sign of these followers belief was one thing: unhindered obedience to the call of Jesus. It was this overall argument that led Bonhoeffer to make the above statements.

     Bonhoeffer was giving a brief but very important description of what is meant by a person of faith – a description that I also agree with. A person who has truly experienced the saving grace of our heavenly Father through our Savior Jesus Christ will live life in such a way that demonstrates the above true propositions are true – and not only true, but in essence two sides of the same coin. Even though the two propositions may seem to be confusing or contradictory, they are simply just two sides of one overarching truth: the evidence of a person who has been saved by the grace of God.

     Only those people who have truly been saved by grace will live a life of obedience to the Word of God. There is no reason for us to expect for any other person to live such a life of obedience; to do so would cheapen the grace of God. For it is only be the grace of God that one is saved, and it is only by the grace of God that one lives a live of obedience to the Word of God. Just as we should not except an unbeliever to live such a life of obedience, we should expect all believers to live a life of immediate and unquestioned obedience. Why? Plain and simple – because of the “absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus.” When one comes to know Jesus Christ through salvation, that salvation is a call to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of one’s life. There is no “I will take Jesus as Savior today, and I will take Him as Lord later on (maybe). The call that Jesus Christ issues to all is a call to salvation and lordship – and lordship is all about obedience.

     On the other side of the coin, it is apparent that only those people who live a life of obedience to the Word of God are those people who have truly believed upon Jesus Christ for salvation. In other words a life of obedience is not evidence that I have worked for salvation, but instead it is evidence that I have been granted salvation because of the grace of God. But this side of the coin also means something even more. The person who has truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation is a person who has been called to continue to believe in our heavenly Father and His Word for the rest of our lives. In all that we do as a follower of Jesus Christ, we have been called to believe God and to take Him at His Word – even if we do not completely understand all that He calls us to. Just as the first followers of Jesus Christ did not completely understand all that Jesus was calling them to yet they followed in obedience, we today as followers of Jesus Christ are day-in-day-out trust God and take Him at His word. In other words, a life of obedience is the clear sign of a life of believing God and His word.

     Here is the question that we must ask ourselves. Does my life reflect harmony with these two propositions: only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.

Jordan and Rains: Two God-Honoring Men of Legacy

Within the past several months, two truly God-honoring men who had major impact and influence on my life and service for Christ have passed away: C. Ferris Jordan in November 2014 and Allie Rains in July 2015.
In the summer of 1989, I served as a Baptist Student Union summer missionary in St. Louis, MO. My host church was Grace Baptist Church, and my missions partner (Mike Baxley) and I lived in the basement of 4th Baptist Church (and also served there as well). Rev. Allie Rains was the pastor of 4th Baptist Church and served as my ministry supervisor and mentor for the summer. Having just sensed a call to ministry a couple of months earlier, I learned so much about ministry and family life of the minister from Allie Rains. He was a man who truly loved Jesus Christ with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He had a passion to share his love of Christ with all people who God placed around him, especially the "least of these" people. He modeled how God intended a man to lead and serve his family. He helped me to see what it means to truly provide for your family - that leading your family to wholehearted love and commitment to Jesus Christ results in having the "richest" family any follower of Christ could hope for (this was much needed for this very materialistic-focused young man at this point in my life). His overall example of servant leadership tremendously influenced my perspective of what it means to be a servant minister of Christ. To a large degree, my heart for local church ministry and ministry to the "least of these" was shaped by this amazing man of God.
In the fall of 1991, I entered New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as a Master of Divinity student. During my first year as a student, I learned so much about the Word of God and about how to practically minister the Word to the people that God put in my life. One of the most influential professors that had a profound impact on my life was C. Ferris Jordan. Dr. Jordan was Professor of Christian Education with specialization in Adult Education. Each time you came into his presence, he radiated the spirit and love of Jesus Christ. His love for Christ and his passion for ministry to adults was contagious to those who sat in his classroom, and this contagiousness had a maximum impact upon me. So much so, that I changed my area off study from Master of Divinity to Master of Divinity with emphasis in Christian Education (with primary attention to Adult Education). Several years later, I pursued and obtained my Doctor of Philosophy degree with a specialization in Adult Education. I pursued this degree because God was shifting my ministry focus from local church pastoral ministry to equipping future ministry leaders at the Christian college level. To a large degree, my heart for higher education for the purpose of equipping young adult ministry leaders was shaped by this amazing man of God.
Rev. Allie Rains and Dr. C. Ferris Jordan, thank you two for your years of faithful service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for the God-honoring lives that you lived. Thank you for your example of what it means to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength - and to love your neighbors as you love yourself. Most of all, THANK YOU for the profound impact that you had upon my life. My prayer is that the legacy that I leave will be somewhere close to your legacies!

The Theological Task

“If, rather than facing up to the task of extending God’s story into the present, we seek constantly to dwell in some previous chapter of it, we should not be surprised when we are either ignored or not taken seriously by those who find our approach quaintly anachronistic…..This, then, is the heart of the theological task: the translation of the gospel into forms which are meaningful for our spatial and temporal context, that those who live alongside us in that context may hear and understand and discover the relevance and meaning of the gospel for themselves.” Trevor Hart in Faith Thinking

We as Christians, and thus Christian theologians, must understand the reason that we engage in the task of theology. Plain and simple, theology is our simple attempt to better understand our highly complex and mysterious God. But theology also does involve more than this understanding of God – it should move even further into how our understanding of the one true God impacts the way in which we live in the world around us. In other words, a major part of theology is to translate and interpret our understanding of God in a correspondent and coherent manner with our everyday lives. When we fail to do so, it is at that point that we are “either ignored or not taken seriously” by others around us. As followers of Jesus Christ, his call upon us to be salt and light in the world around us is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum of the previous manner of living in our world – yet it is precisely in the previous manner that a good number of Christians live out their everyday lives. Many Christians do not understand or fail to realize the fact that we are all involved in the theological task, that we are all theologians. The issue at hand is this: Are you a good or bad theologian? As a good theologian, we will task seriously the task of “translating the gospel into forms which are meaningful for our spatial and temporal context.” In other words, we as Christians should take seriously the task of learning how to take our Christian faith and make it speak to the world in which we live today in a way that is faithful to gospel message of God’s story. The Gospel message of God’s story never changes – but the world in which this story interacts constantly changes. Therefore our task as theologians is an always-changing task – and that task is to strive to faithfully translate and interpret this message in our world today – and not to “seek constantly to dwell in some previous chapter of it.” We must learn from the faithful ones in our past how they accomplished this task in their world – so that we can be faithful to this important task in our world today. Let us always remember that the ultimate purpose of our theological task is that our lives our lived in such a way that others around us “may hear and understand and discover the relevance and meaning of the gospel for themselves”!

Spiritual Leadership - How It Is Desperately Needed

"When a person in authority demands obedience of another, irrespective of the latter's reason and conscience, this is tyranny. On the other hand, when, by the exercise of tact and sympathy, prayer, spiritual power and sound wisdom, one is able to influence and enlighten another, so that a life course is changed, that is spiritual leadership." Quote by D.E. Hoste in Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

Oh, how our world is in desperate needed of genuine spiritual leadership today - in our churches, our parachurch ministries, our schools, our workplaces, our homes, our neighborhoods, etc. There are many who aspire to leadership, even and sometimes especially Christians, for one reason: the power that comes with a position of leadership. However, just because one is in a position of leadership does not make that person a true leader - especially from a Christian worldview perspective. Many so-called Christian leaders are not more leaders than they are simply tyrants - having to have things done their way and their way alone. A Christian who is a true leader is not characterized by the t-word "tyrant" but instead by another t-word "towel". A Christian who is a true spiritual leader is characterized first and foremost by the attitude of being "servant to all". Several of the characteristics of a servant leader can be found in the above quote. Tact - having the necessary sensitivity when dealing with difficult people or issues or both. Sympathy - having the appropriate feelings for others in their times of misfortune. Prayer - having two-way communication with the One we should most oft communicate with. Spiritual Power - resulting from a complete and utter dependence upon the power of the Spirit and not the power of self. Sound Wisdom - having the ability to rightly apply knowledge in handling difficult situations and negotiating complicated relationships. Able to Influence and Enlighten Another - having to do with the style of leadership and the character of the one leading. The only way that the life of our churches - our parachurch ministries - our schools - our workplaces - our homes - our neighborhoods - our nation - our world - will be changed is when Christians in leadership positions make the decision to truly exercise and exhibit genuine Christian, spiritual leadership. Here is my question for you (and me): How are you going to lead: tyrant or towel?

Launching Arrows

"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3-5a

This passage has been seen in a new and insightful way this week by this writer. This past August, my wife and I had the difficult task of "dropping off" our twins on their respective university campuses for their freshman year - on the same day! Seth was first at Carson-Newman University and Hannah was next at Anderson University (SC). The hours of that weekend included move in day and say good-bye day, and those were some difficult hours. I remember how difficult it was to leave their respective campuses, to arrive back in Dayton - and then Grassy Branch Road - and then to walk into our home - with no Seth and Hannah. Throughout this year, Kim and I have learned once again what it means to live "without children" in the home; and yes there are pros and cons to this newfound reality!
However, this week, I experienced a day that seemed to me to be more difficult than that weekend this past August - I went to help Hannah "move out" of her dorm at Anderson University. Throughout the year, I have seen both Hannah and Seth flourish at their respective campuses. It has been very obvious they are both EXACTLY where God desires them to be at this chapter of their lives. It has been exciting as a father to see how our heavenly Father has been working in and through them in their "new world". They both are really flourishing as individuals and in their relationships with God and with others (so thankful for the great, Christian friends they both have made). As Hannah and I were preparing to leave the AU campus, I went out to the van and allowed Hannah to finish her dorm check-out and to say her good-byes to her hall-mates/friends. As I was walking to the van, IT really hit me. What IT you may say? This IT - that Hannah was exactly where God desires her to be and that she was leaving that place (although just for a couple of months) to come back to the "Jones home". This really hit me hard - and I began to tell/cry out to God that I was sorry that I was bringing her "home" away from her "new home" - I was sorry that I was taking her away from this new place that God has brought her to and that He desires her to be. I text Kim and told her "This day is harder emotionally to me than move in day."
However, it was also at this point that I realized why this day was so hard. Hannah was a well-crafted arrow that God intends to be launched by Kim and me - into the life that God has for her. This year was the beginning of that "new life" - and it has been a great year for her (and for Seth). I realized that these "arrows" that God had gifted Kim and me with were not intended to "stay in the quiver". Instead, our job as parents were to equip them/shape them/mold them into well crafted arrows to be used by and of God in their lives "after the quiver". This past year has been their first year "after the quiver" - and it has been a TREMENDOUS year. The reason why I was so emotional on this day was that I realized what an amazing arrow/young lady that my daughter was - and that she was truly flourishing "after the quiver". I was emotionally disturbed that I was bringing her back "to the quiver". Don't get me wrong, Kim and I both love to have both of our twins back in our home. But I realized that the time for them to be "in this quiver" was slowly fading away - and that brought JOY to my heart as I thought of how well they both are doing "outside the quiver". I began to thank God for his amazing wife in the lives of both of my children as I was walking to the van waiting for Hannah to follow behind soon to her car.
In just three days, I am going to get to experience this same type of "move out" day for Seth. He will be coming to the "Jones home" from his "new home" at CNU. I am certain that I will have the same feelings on that "move out" day as well. I have been reflecting on the amazing things that have occurred in Seth's life this year - that caused me to realize what an amazing arrow/young man that my son was - and that he also was truly flourishing "after the quiver".
Today, during the morning worship service at our church (New Union BC), the graduating seniors were being recognized. As I sat there watching this recognition, I began to think to myself (concerning the parents that were watching) the following thoughts: "I know this may seem difficult today - but as I realized this past week - it is this time that we were made parents for - to launch our children "out of the quiver" into their new lives. My prayer is that your children will flourish this next year (and the years to come) in the same way that my twins have flourished. So, be encouraged, this is what it means to be a parent - to LAUNCH ARROWS!"
How big of a blessing it truly is to have your children/arrows in your home/quiver over the years from birth through the high school years. There are so many great memories during these years. But truly how big of a blessing that it is to be able to LAUNCH ARROWS and know that they have landed right exactly where God desired them to land - and as a result be the person that God desires them to be and to do the things that God desires them to do. What a truly blessed privilege it is as a parent to be able to LAUNCH ARROWS. Dear God, my continued prayer is that these two amazing ARROWS (Hannah and Seth) will be Your weapons in the battle to usher in your Kingdom!